A New Player: Year Five: The Drums of War
by Faykan
Summary: On the eve of Lord Voldemort's resurrection, a new wizarding war is declared. Rejoin our heroes as they stand against ruthless Death Eaters, conspiring Ministry Officials, and Dark Creatures all on their own... or so it appears...
1. Prologue

**So, you've waited, you've wondered... and at last I am home! writing has recommenced, but there are some new stipulations... It will be much slower in publishing that prior, as I do not have infinite amounts of time to spend writing anymore, and what I have written will only last so long if I post weekly. I will try to see what I can do, but I will be less often, if consistent. Apologies, but some story is better than none yes?**

**Without further comment, except for a resounding plea for them from you all, I proudly present.**

**New Player Year 5**

**The Drums of War**

**Prologue**

**Grief and Pain**

Harry heard a second crack of apparition seconds after he landed in his bedroom, dropping his trunk to the floor and setting Hedwig's cage aside. "Master Harry Sir?" said Dobby from the corner of his room, concern etched in his voice, but Harry did not hear him. With a sigh of utter despair, he turned to his bed, and collapsed onto it fully clothed, unable to bear the emotional weight of anything more for the time being.

_Faykan was dead…_

The sheer sense of loss had compounded for Harry when Professor Snape had taken him, Hermione, Draco, Ron, Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, Bill, and a small handful of the other teachers to the spare classroom that held the black, wooden coffin in which Faykan had been laid to rest.

Professor Snape had, in respect for Harry's wishes, left the casket closed, and together they had lamented the loss of the black haired boy. They had each, in turn, spoken a few words about Faykan and what they had knew about or learned from him, which turned out to be surprisingly little of the former and surprisingly much of the latter. Harry had never realized until now how completely his best friend had been concealing every detail about himself, probably in case of just this occasion, in case of his death.

When it had been Harry's turn to speak, he had not been able to fight off the wash of emotion. He fled, he ran as far from the room as he could, but the memories and the pain pursued him.

_Faykan, slinking around corridors in his vulpine form, dodging from shadow to shadow. _

_Faykan, laughing as they crossed the grounds to a class. _

_Faykan, watching Harry fly on his Firebolt, despite not himself being overly fond of flying. _

Harry only stopped running when he had found himself almost entering the Quidditch Pitch. He ducked under the stands, quickly arriving at the small, cramped corner where he had Faykan had been the most open to each other.

Astonishingly, Harry felt no sense of pain or loss or guilt here, here where he had seen Faykan at his happiest, and his most vulnerable. They had shared something together here that had solidified their relationship as it was meant to be, and here, Harry had felt a small, calming peace amidst the storm of emotion that raged about him at the death of his best friend.

He had hidden there for hours, until Hermione had found him, and brought him back to the school. The peace he had found there lasted him the rest of the two days before they had left Hogwarts. Then Nott had come to taunt him, and Harry lost control again, unlocking power he had never known he possessed.

If Harry had not still been reeling from his loss, he would have been excited about finally having full access to his magic, but thinking about it only brought more thoughts of Faykan. The boy had been so engrained into Harry's life; he didn't know how he would be able to go on with out him.

Then he knew.

His hatred would allow him to go on; vengeance was all there was left, vengeance against Voldemort.

Harry felt his magic writhe and boil in his veins as he thought about the one person he hated above anyone on the face of the earth. The war was coming, and thanks to Faykan, he was more prepared than anyone could imagine him to be, except for Hermione, Ron and Draco.

Suddenly, his grief was gone, banished behind a wall of determined anger. He would continue what Faykan started, he would train himself for the day Voldemort came for him, and he would if the past four years were any indication, and Harry would make certain he was as ready as he could be to face him.

"Dobby!" he called, summoning the house elf to him as he rose from the bed, eyes glinting in resolve, "I want you to go to Hogwarts, bring me every book that will help me with Defense Against the Dark Arts, Occlumency, Animagus Forms, and any books that contain powerful spells."

Dobby bowed low to him and vanished.

_Faykan was dead…_ But through Harry, his memory would live on, and his purposes would be accomplished. Harry swore it.


	2. Chapter 1

**Well, you've all waited, wondered, and some have outright demanded... we find out the resolution of the last book's cliffhanger! (YAY!)... anyway... two quick things, REVIEW! OM NOM NOM! my inbox is drastically low right now, and it wearies me! secondly, don't get comfortable with weekly updates, I'm leaning towards every other week and cycling between stories for flavor and ease of mind as I write. Hopefully I'll put a nice buffer between where I'm writing and where I'm posting and then be able to bump it back to weekly, but right now I am not comfortable with that yet. We shall see. anyways, enjoy! **

**F.**

**Chapter One**

**Gifts**

"_Incendio!_" Severus said, as his first tear in nearly thirteen years slipped down his face.

The wood on which Faykan Undol's casket was laid ignited, the flames spreading quickly over the oil coating the timber of Faykan's funeral pyre. The pair of House elves beside Severus burst into tears again, wailing as the flames crept over their master's coffin. The wooden coffin quickly burned away, revealing the boy's body, appearing to almost be sleeping amidst the raging inferno.

But…

Severus blinked, convinced he was seeing things. The fire that was charring the wood and singing the clothing around Undol was not consuming his body. If anything, it was weaving around him, forming a cocoon of red orange fire around the boy's corpse.

Then suddenly, several things happened at once. Firstly, a powerful burst of magic sounded from the north, back towards Britain, as strong as the Dark Lords, but different, lighter and sharper, but not quite as refined or focused as Dumbledore's. Then a bellowing bird cry came from the west. Severus whipped around so fast he felt a crick in his neck. Something massive was flying toward the tower upon which he stood. A trail of flames soared behind it, painting the sky in reds, yellows and oranges.

It was a Firebird, large as the muggle plane, with the same vivid plumage as a phoenix, which was natural, as they were near relations. The massive bird cried out again, strong and majestically. And Severus felt his heart lighten. Something nearly unheard of was happening. Firebirds were said to be extinct, their race hunted down for their feathers to be used in ancient wands.

As the Firebird swooped over the pinnacle of the tower, Severus saw it dig its golden beak into a wing, tearing out a huge golden feather, and release it. The feather drifted down upon a small breeze as the bird rose into the air, and with a screech, exploded into a torrent of ash and dust. Severus watched in awe and dismay as the feather drifted downward among the remains if the mighty bird. The feather touched down, directly over Faykan's now bare chest, amidst the magical flames and ashes. The fire swirled anew, and Severus gasped. Faykan stirred, drawing a deep intake of breath as life was suddenly poured back into him.

Currents of wind surged around, seemingly from nowhere, and lifted Undol from the pyre, billowing the tattered and charred remains of his robes around him and turning him in midair to land gently on his feet upon the tower in front of Severus, the Firebird feather clutched in his hands. The boy's eyes were burning with blinding white fire, and Severus could feel the warmth and depth of them, the pure understanding that poured from the orbs.

The pyre died, the flames diminished, but the radiance endured. It took Severus several moments to realize that the light was emanating from Faykan himself, an untainted light that removed all darkness, all sorrow, all pain. It was inspiring, it was enlightening, and Severus could no more stop the tears that poured from his face then command the sun to rise.

He knelt, bowing his head before the greatness and power that flowed from Faykan like sunlight. And then Faykan spoke, and his voice was deep as the mountain's roots, yet light as the highest cloud, "_alkar a' i' valar i' kalina en' ron mool ten'oio putta i' du!_" _[1]_ Severus felt, more than heard the words, singing over the surrounding forest, hovering on the wind. "_Ónen i-Estel Edain_." _[2]_

"Faykan?" Severus asked in a hoarse whisper. Faykan looked down at him confused, as though eh only just noticed him.

"Faykan?" he asked in return, confusion on his face. Severus felt the boy press into his mind, bypassing every defense as he sought out the name and its meaning. Only after several seconds did recognition dawn on him, "That's what they used to call me," he said, more to himself than to Severus, "Faykan Undol…" he smiled at Severus, a warm smile that coursed through the air and enveloped Severus in the love that the boy felt for him.

The boy spread his arms wide, and Severus took no time springing to embrace the child, the child who seemed now to be older than time itself. "How can this be?" Severus said, stifling himself from weeping in joy any further. "I do not know Sev, the last I recall of my old memories was when darkness and death took me. I strayed out of thought and time afterward… The stars wheeled overhead, and every day was as long as a life age of the earth… But it was not the end. I have been called back, called back by those whom I love, and I shall not leave you again… not until my task is finished."

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Albus felt the blast of magic as he sat in the Headmaster's study in Hogwarts, reading over several reports from Order members. The windows rocked with the force of the magic, and Albus leapt to his feet, wand in hand. Then he relaxed, it was only Harry. After seeing Harry break the final wards containing his magic, Albus knew it was only a matter of time before the boy became aware of his power, however, as long as Albus left him in the dark for now, and with Faykan Undol dead and out of the way, Harry would be simple to mould into the tool required to fight Voldemort.

Far more important right now was the protection of the two prophecies regarding the boy, and deflecting Voldemort's attempts to steal them out of the Department of Mysteries. Albus had organized the old crowd from the first war, and set them about several important tasks, watching Harry, guarding the prophecies, gathering allies and spying on the Death Eaters. It would not be an easy start to this second war, as before they had Ministry support. But Cornelius, ever the ignorant fool, was taking every step to prevent people from even considering the idea that Voldemort had returned, even to the point of slandering Albus and Harry, and dishonoring the death of Faykan as some sort of tragic accident.

Albus felt a twinge of regret at the boy's death; he would have been an incredibly powerful ally. But alas, he proved too wild to tame, and Voldemort got to him first, so Albus would have to simply do without the boy's brilliant mind and tremendous skills. He settled down to read Arabella's report on the preparations to watch Harry, when he was startled by a second, far more powerful resonating blast of magic, far from the south east, echoing and reverberating seeming from everywhere. Albus could sense the rise of a new Lord. Every powerful witch and wizard for miles could probably feel the magic, but only a select few, like Albus, could hear the voice of the new Lord within the magic, pledging their declaration, whether it be for their own devises, as Voldemort had, or to the welfare of all mankind, like Albus.

"_Ónen i-Estel Edain!_" _[2]_

'So... A new Light Lord had come forth.' Albus thought. Few still remembered the old words of the departed elves. Even the Lords and Ladies who understood and could speak them refused to, as the words were powerful, and if used liberally, could be dangerous for mortals. But every Lord spoke the words at least once, during the comming of their full power, which could either be at magical maturity, or in the face of trama. Albus' remembered his own, right on the edge of his great duel with Gellert. Shaking his head to free himself from his own memories, Albus pondered the new development.

Perhapes he could enlist this new Lord to assist him with Voldemort, Albus thought. He immediatly began drafting a letter, glancing up a few times at Fawks to think of how best to phrase his missive.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Voldemort started at the blast of magic, heralding a new Lord attaining his power. The sound of his voice rang around the fortress cave he had prepared years ago, before his fall. "_Ónen i-Estel Edain_." _[2] _the voice roared, deafening Voldemort, as the Declaration to the Light poured forth from the magic. The Death Eaters stirred, feeling the magic but not hearing what had disturbed their Lord.

"My Lord?" Nott said hesitantly. Voldemort scowled at him, causing the man to quail backward. The Dark Lord Voldemort would deal with this new upstart in his own time, after he had ensured that he would live forever. Harry Potter must die before anything else. But to accomplish this, Voldemort needed the prophecy. He must know why the boy continued to survive after three different attempts on his life.

Severus, ever his faithful spy, had attested to the fact that Dumbledore's Order was working diligently to prevent him or his servants any access to the Department of Mysteries, as well as following those they suspected of being in his service, and attempting to thwart his gathering of allies, such as the werewolves and the giants. But their pitiful attempts would not hinder the Dark Lord. In the end, he would emerge victorious. Of this end Voldemort had little doubt.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Severus struggled to keep up with Faykan's strides as the boy moved from room to room in the Tower, collecting items and talking aloud to himself as much as to Severus. "There is great many tasks now to be done, and precious little time to do them…" he paused, placing a hand to his head, and Severus was able to catch up to him, "Faykan, you must rest right now, I have no idea how much magic you've gained, but the amount you've used must have been enormous…"

"There's no time!" Faykan shouted, but even as he protested, he sank to his knees in exhaustion. Severus seized the boy by the upper arm and hefted him back to his feet, allowing Faykan to rest his weight on Severus as they walked back to the bedrooms. "Severus," Faykan said weakly as he was helped into the large black sheeted bed, "you must help me; I need to get back to Hogwarts this year, without Dumbledore realizing that I'm still alive. Harry needs me, now more than ever…"

"Of course Faykan, of course I'll help you. But for now, rest, you must regain your expended magic before we can do anything. You have the whole summer to plan and prepare." Severus said, placating the boy so that he would stop trying to overtax himself.

Faykan nodded finally, "Yes, of course your right, Severus, I'm no use to anyone if I allow magical exhaustion to take me." And he settled down, allowing Severus to guide him to his room and settle him against the pillows, pulling the covers up to his waist.

"I suppose writing letters isn't too strenuous for me right now?" he asked. Severus nodded, smiling at the boy's compliance, why couldn't more children be this accepting when their elders told them things to do for their own health. He retrieved parchment and a quill, and opened the window so the boy could call birds to take his messages to their recipients.

"Thank you Sev." Faykan replied after Severus had done this, and started scratching out a letter. Severus was about to start asking his desperate question, but he felt the burn of his Dark Mark, and took his leave, needing to arrive swiftly at the Dark Lord's side as to not arouse suspicion.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Harry looked up at the tapping on his window. He had been studying day and night for weeks on end from the books he had Dobby cycle to and from the Hogwarts library, only returning them when he was completely finished with everything they could offer him. He raised an eyebrow as he saw a large eagle owl sitting on the window sill, looking regal and important as it tapped the glass with its beak.

Harry waved his hand at the window, and it sprang open. He had found that wandless magic came naturally to him now, and that even the simplest tasks could be accomplished by a mere thought and a gesture. The Ministry would never know, even if they were actively watching him, as they could only monitor wand-cast magic, or else they would have harassed him every time Dobby did anything. The owl soared in and dropped a small package with a letter on Harry's bed, circling once around the room before departing.

Mildly curious, Harry set the book on Animagus Transformations aside and strode to the package. The moment he touched it, it grew until it was the size of a cake box. Harry blinked, now intrigued, and took the letter that had come with the package.

'_Dear Mr. Potter_

_We are sorry to hear of your friend Mr. Undol's passing. It is a loss that had affected us all deeply. We represent the interests of Mr. Undol's estate, and are sending you this letter to allot to you what Mr. Undol has left for you in his Will. We will now quote the last Will and testimony of Faykan Undol:_

_I Faykan Undol, in the event of my death, so set aside and delegate the following items._

_To Mr. Harry Potter, What more can I give than hasn't already been given to you? I leave unto you, my greatest friend, a Pensieve, so you can review the world under a more critical eye. _

_I also leave you these words of advice: DO NOT TRUST ALBUS DUMBLEDORE.'_

Harry blinked at the letter, taking in its information incredibly slowly. 'Why?'was his prevailing question, why not trust Professor Dumbledore?

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

In the darkened kitchen of Number 12, Grimmauld Place, Sirius sat with the Weasley family and Hermione, as the rest of the Order prepared to monitor and remove Harry from his relative's house at the slightest hint of trouble. Dumbledore had stressed the importance of leaving his godson there for as long as possible, and it maddened Sirius that he would be left with Lily's horrid muggle sister for nearly the entire summer.

But there was little to nothing he could do.

A rustle above them all made them look up. Not one but four owls swooped down to land on the long kitchen table, in front of himself, Hermione, Ron and the twins. "I wonder who these could be from." Molly said, looking at each of the birds, which each carried one letter and a small parcel.

As Sirius took hold of his letter, there was a gasp from Hermione. The owl in front of her at snapped menacingly with its beak when she tried to remove the package. The same happened with Ron's, while Fred took his and George's without any problems, and the package grew as he touched it.

"It's…" Fred said, but he stopped, as his eyes had jumped ahead down the letter, and they widened to the side of dinner plates. George took up for his twin, "its Faykan's will."

The entire room went silent. Sirius took his letter and package from the owl in front of him, and it soared off after the twins'. Ron's and Hermione's owls remained, guarding their letters and packages like nesting dragons.

"_To Mr. Sirius Black, I leave a possession that should have been with you from the beginning, the Ring of Barahir, with the hope that you remembers that your family once did have honour._" Sirius read aloud. He withdrew from the small package a silver ring, shaped to look like two twined serpents crowned with golden flowers. The serpents' eyes were made of emeralds. Despite every urge Sirius had to chuck the thing in a bin for the Slytherin references, he couldn't bring himself to do it. It was Faykan's last gift to him, and he would not dishonour the boy's memory by rejecting the gift. The ring fit snugly on his right middle ringer.

"What did you receive boys?" Molly asked the twins. They had opened the lid of the box they had received, and were staring opened mouthed at the contents. Before anyone could come close to look they had slammed the lid shut.

"Now Mum…" Fred said.

"We want you to not be angry when…" George picked up.

"We read you what we were given and for the reason it must be used." Fred finished.

Then they together read their letter, skipping over straight to Faykan's words for them, "_To Misters Fred and George Weasley, I leave the sum total of three thousand Galleons, for your use toward you're joke shop. The world has need of more laughter and cheer in it, and you know what power a joke can have on people._"

"Our question is…" Fred said after the room had been stunned into silence again.

"How did Faykan know we were working to making a joke shop?" George finished quietly.

They all pondered the mystery in silence for a few moments.

"Well, it doesn't matter," Molly said, and they all looked hesitantly at her. She had been against the whole idea of a Weasley joke shop from the beginning, then they received the third shock of the day, "You will use that gold and build the best damn joke shop ever, or so help me, I'll flay you both alive for wasting Faykan's last gift to you."

The twins beamed at her.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Hermione gaped at the gifts that Sirius and the twins received from their departed friend. Turning to her and Ron's owls, she wondered why they would not allow them to have their gifts. Then it hit her. Faykan must have sent them gifts that were for their eyes only.

"Come on Ron, lets go up to your room," she said pointedly, tugging on his arm.

"But Hermione…" he whined, gesturing at the owls, who were still snapping at his attempts to remove their packages.

"Come on Ronald," she insisted, yanking him out of his chair. Thankfully everyone's attention was focused on Fred and George as they described the things they would do with the Galleons that Faykan had left for them.

The minute Ron and Hermione left, the owls soared up and followed. Only when they were locked inside Hermione and Ginny's room did the owls relinquish their packages. Touching them, they grew into long thin bundles. Hermione had two, one the size of a book, the other thin and slightly curved.

Ron opened his letter first, "_To Mr. Ronald Weasley, I leave the spear Aiglos, weapon of the mighty Noldor elf warrior, Gil-Galad, with the sad knowledge that such weapons will be needed again far sooner than we all hope._"

Slowly unwrapping the long package, Ron revealed the glistening silver shaft of a spear. The moonlight shining through the window gleamed on the leaf shaped blade, giving the weapon a bluish glow. Ron stared at it amazed, running his hands down the length of the ancient weapon.

Hermione eagerly opened her letter, wondering what Faykan had felt to leave her. '_To Miss Hermione Granger, I leave my book on the history of house elves, hoping that she will finally understand that they will never willingly accept freedom. I also leave to her a bow of the Galadrim, strung with the hair of the ancient elves of Lothlorien._'

Setting the book aside, Hermione lifted the wooden bow, and studied the fine golden string which was, as Faykan had wrote, woven from many long golden hairs. The bow was incredibly light, and tiny, golden designs were etched into the wood. She drew the string back to test the resilience, and was pleased to find the string taught, yet flexible in her hands.

It was only then that Hermione noticed that Ron was crying silently. "Ron?" she asked and he shook his head, struggling to contain himself and wipe the tears away.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Draco blinked as a great grey owl swooped into his room, depositing a letter and a package on his bed before leaving. He had been confined to his room the entire summer because of his 'disgrace' of Lucius' reputation during the previous year. But both his mother and Professor Snape had come to see him multiple times, and reassured him that they were pleased that he had chosen to put his own self before any kind of blind loyalty to the Malfoy name.

Without thinking Draco scooped up the letter, brushing his hand on the package, which grew. Raising his eyebrows, Draco opened the letter and read slowly,

'_Dear Mr. Malfoy_

_We am sorry to hear of your friend Mr. Undol's passing. It is a loss that had affected us all. We represent the interests of Mr. Undol's estate, and are sending you this letter to allot you what Mr. Undol has left to you in his Will. We will now quote the last Will and testimony of Faykan Undol:_

_I Faykan Undol, in the event of my death, so set aside and delegate the following items:_

_To Mr. Draco Malfoy, I leave a shirt of mirthril mail, an heirloom from the glory of old days, with the hope that he will wear it always, and guard it as it will guard his life. For no blade or spell may pierce this finest work from the realm of Khazad-__dûm._

Draco dropped the letter as he took hold of the parcel, opening it and pulling aside several folds of old cloth, revealing the studded shirt of close-woven rings. As he lifted it out, he felt the chill of the metal, yet the lightness of it surprised him. The armor shone like moonlit silver in the torchlight, and he noticed pure diamonds woven into the metal.

Draco clutched the shirt to his chest, allowing himself to finally mourn openly for his friend, behind closed doors as a Slytherin should.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Severus returned to Orthanc to find Faykan laughing, great golden sounds of amusement gliding out of the boy's mouth as he read the letter in his hand. "Dumbledore you old fool!" he roared, throwing the letter to Severus as he walked away. Severus looked at the letter, smirking as he read,

_To the newest Light Lord,_

_Allow me to be among the first to welcome you into the larger world, and to send the greetings of Britain. Surely you know of my current plight with the Dark Lord that calls himself Voldemort, and I wish to request your newfound strength in combating this darkness in exchange for training in the ways of the Light. I would personally welcome you into Britain for the extent of this new war, and am eagerly awaiting your reply._

_Albus P. W. B. Dumbledore, Light Lord._

'So, Dumbledore thinks that Faykan is a new risen Lord,' Severus thought. Apparently the range of the boy's magic was tremendous, therefore Voldemort must be aware of his power as well, but the Dark Lord was too consumed in discovering the prophecy and killing Potter to care what takes place beyond British soil. Severus placed the letter on a side table and followed Faykan out to the balcony near his bedroom. The boy was sitting there, chuckling merrily as he filled a clay pipe with some dried herb.

"So, do you intent to play Albus as the fool?" Severus asked, taking the seat next to Faykan, as the boy lit the pipe with a snap of his fingers. Faykan took a long draft, sending smoke rings sailing out into the sky as he thought, then smiled, "Of course Sev, I'll respond, I've pretended to be people for years now, what's a few more?"

Severus stared as Faykan blew more smoke from his pipe, wondering what on earth the boy could mean.

"Now then," Faykan said, pausing in his smoking to drink from an earthen cup, and turning to Severus, "What is Voldemort up to? What is his main goal right now, other than killing Harry?"

Hesitantly, Severus explained the prophecy, including how it was responsible for the first attack on Potter, and that the Dark Lord still desires to hear it in full. "We're you the one who heard it in the first place Sev?" Faykan asked, blue eyes boring into Severus, seeing deep into the dark places where Severus hid his greatest shame. "Yes…" he whispered, admitting it at last.

The boy took Severus' hand from across the table, "It is not your fault, you were full of anger, hatred, and resentment at your life, you had no idea that he would chase after her, or that she would willingly sacrifice herself to protect her son. Too long have you let this shadow hang over you my friend." He said sagely, "Let it go… live for the living, not the dead."

Severus turned away, jerking his hand back. How could this boy sound so youthful one second, then so old and wise the next? How could this child pretend to know how he, Severus, felt?

Thankfully, the discussion was interrupted by the loud squawking of birds as a pair of gulls flew down to the balcony, one carrying a long thin package, the other a small square one. "Ah, I was wondering if these would arrive today…" Faykan said, setting his cup and pipe aside and taking the packages. The gulls flew off, and Faykan turned back to the tower. "If you ever wish to discuss it, I am more than willing Sev…" he said before stepping back inside the tower.

Severus sat for a few moments, before curiosity about what the packages contained drove him to follow. Faykan had ascended to the pinnacle of the tower, and had opened the packages; one was a large shaft of wood, pure silver in color. The other was a massive sapphire, cut and shaped to resemble a pointed crystal. The gem was set in a silver mount that Severus guessed was for the top of the stave of wood.

Faykan drew from his robes the Firebird feather, and arranged the three objects around him in a triangle, as he stood in the center of the tower. Then, raising his arms to the heavens, he cried in a loud voice, "_taur leuthil ar' quesse en' naur auta vee' er tehta en' poldora ar' val_!" _[3]_ The objects rose on an enchanted wind, fire blossoming around them, there was a blinding flash of light; Severus threw up a hand to shield his eyes. When the light had finally dissipated, Faykan stood, wielding the silver wood staff, crowned with the silver mounted sapphire. The staff rang with power of its own, and Severus could feel the fire of life within it, roaring like the Firebird whose feather was its core. Runes etched themselves down the silver wood, spiraling and twisting the entire length.

"A staff would be hard to pass under Albus' nose without gaining his attention…" Severus pointed out, causing Faykan to smile, "True, but it needs not remain as it is." He lifted the staff, and it shrank, collapsing upon itself until it only sixteen inches long, the sapphire the size of a human eye fixed into the handle of the silver wand. "Less noticeable?" Faykan said, grinning at Severus in that vulpine way that always irritated him.

"And now for my return to Britain, what is your plan to get me back into Hogwarts?"

"All in due time…" Severus said, "For now, write your letter to Albus, and then we shall see what can be done."

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Harry was becoming frustrated. He replayed the vision of his animagus form over and over in his head, but he could not make any sense of it. All he could see in his minds eye was the moonlit sky above, blocked by foliage and blackness as he pawed through the dense undergrowth. It was maddening, how quiet and slow he had to move, but he had known that he must not be seen. But apart from that he could not remember any significant details from the vision.

A new thought struck him, and he turned to look at the Pensieve on his desk. He had not used it since it had arrived; he had seen no reason to at the moment. But… could work for this? It was worth a try. He rose and walked over to the Pensieve, drawing his wand and pressing it to his temple. Focusing on his vision, he twisted the wand slightly. He felt something wind around the tip of his wand, and slowly he pulled the memory free of his skull. It was an odd feeling. The memory was still there, but a ghost of what it was before. Flicking his wand he dropped the vision memory into the basin, and then ducked his head into the silvery liquid.

Landing hard, Harry looked around, trying to orient himself in the near blackness. The moonlight gleamed off the foliage around him, and the forest was completely devoid of sound. But, it didn't look like any forest Harry remembered seeing, more wild and overgrown. It wasn't a forest, it was a jungle. If the memory hadn't been completely silent, Harry didn't think he would have heard his memory self padding slowly through the undergrowth. He was large, jet black and defiantly feline. The only recognizable features were the gleaming yellow eyes as the black jaguar crept past him.

Harry was ejected from the memory with the same jolt in which he had entered, and he quickly scooped the memory back into his head, thinking hard. His animagus was a panther. Now that he knew, the next step according to the book he read was to meditate upon transfiguring himself into that form. It would be easier if he understood the anatomy of the creature, in his case, jungle cats. He sat on his bed to think where he could get a book like that.

Someone knocked gently on his door. Harry spun around, surprised that any of the Dursleys even remembered that he existed. It had been several weeks since he arrived back and he hadn't left his room for anything except to use the bathroom. If not for Dobby, his room would probably be a disaster. Whoever was there knocked again, and Harry sighed, got up, and opened the door.

It was Dudley.

"What?" Harry said, irritated. Dudley shifted slightly, but didn't back down, "Are you okay, Harry?" he asked. Harry's surprise heightened, not only was Dudley talking to him, something he hadn't done for years now, but he had called Harry by his first name, something he had never done. "What?" he repeated, the irritation replaced by astonishment. "You… you've been moaning in your sleep…" Dudley said nervously, glancing past Harry at all the wizarding objects in his room, "sometimes almost yelling, something about 'he's dead,' and 'I'll kill him.' Mum and Dad don't care; cause their too scared of your friend. But, but I haven't seen him all summer. And I dunno… I was getting slightly worried about you staying in there day and night."

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Dudley Dursley, the bully of his first eight years, was worried about _him_.

Dudley shifted nervously again, "Could I come in?" he asked, and Harry stepped aside to admit him, closing the door and returning to sit on his bed. Dudley stood in the middle of the room, gazing around apprehensively at Harry's things, from his Firebolt resting in the corner, to the stacks of books with moving pictures, to the large cauldron under the window, and finally to the pensieve resting on the desk.

"So…" Harry prompted, and that seemed to jerk Dudley out of his trance, "Um…" Dudley began, and Harry thought he must have been trying to find the right words, "Why hasn't your friend De Vries been around to get you, or those Weaseley people? You've never used to stay around this long."

Harry frowned; this was not something he wanted to talk about, least of all with Dudley. "I don't know why the Weasleys haven't come to get me yet." This was true, he didn't really know. Ron and Hermione's letters only said that it was going to be 'soon.' "And Fay…" he trailed off, not wanting to revisit old wounds so soon. The Dursleys never even learned that Faykan had given them a false name those seven years ago when they had met.

Harry was pulled out of his thoughts by Dudley stepping closer to him, "You talk in your sleep sometimes, I can hear you through the wall. Always something about some person named Faykan. And then you start to moan into your pillow, or something. Harry, did something happen when you were… at _your_ school last month?"

Harry put his head in his hands. This had to be a bad dream, there was no way he was having this conversation with Dudley Dursley, there was just was no way. He felt one of Dudley's meaty hand settle on his shoulder. "Harry, did your friend… die?" he said with that same eerily compassionate voice. Harry felt the walls he had built over Faykan's memory come tumbling down again. Tears trickled down his face as his shoulders started to shudder in pain.

"Harry, I'm so sorry…" Dudley said, "I know I really wasn't that nice to either of you, but I'm very sorry that you're in so much pain. Hey, c'mon, lets go for a walk, you can tell me all about him, what'd'ya say?"

Harry felt himself being lifted to his feet and led out the bedroom door. Dudley shouted that he was going out and ushered Harry out the front door. It was a rather warm night. Dudley nudged Harry to get him walking then started to ask questions about Faykan. Harry did his best to answer, and surprisingly, he felt a warmness growing inside him as he spoke about his and Faykan's adventures during their first four years. Dudley made a surprisingly good audience, asking all the right questions and shouting at all the right points.

Harry was just talking about the hundred dementors he had fought off third year when they reached the alleyway between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk. "and then I dashed out from behind the bush and bellowed the Patronus Charm, and an enormous stag drove them all away…" Harry said. "No way!" Dudley exclaimed, releasing the breath he had been holding. "Yeah and then…"

Harry stopped. He felt something, cold and dark nearby, something familiar. "Dudley…" he said, gazing at the far end of the alley, "I think we need to head home now…" But Dudley had stopped too. He gave an odd shuddering gasp, as though doused in icy water.

"I c-can't see! Harry! Help!" he cried, waving his arms out in front of him blindly. Harry seized his hand, "I'm right here Dudley, don't worry, I'm not leaving you." The sky had gone dark, but Harry could still see, faint outlines of a dull wavering glow. He held up his free hand, conjuring a ball of light, as he had left his wand back at Privet Drive. It hung there, feebly glowing in the gloom, and Harry knew of only one creature that could dim magical lights like that.

"Dudley, when I shout, I want you to run as fast as you can back the other way." Harry said calmly, gathering his magic around him like a warm cloak. He had been practicing with his newfound power all summer, and could cast nearly any spell wandlessly now. But he wouldn't if he didn't have to, here where the Ministry could see, and where he didn't have Dobby as a convenient excuse to use magic freely.

"O-okay," Dudley stammered, edging behind Harry, feeling through the darkness. Harry stared into the gloom, waiting for any sight of movement, any sound of the rasping breathing. And then he saw it, "NOW!" Harry shouted, transfiguring his orb of light into a spear and thrusting it forward, stabbing into the cloak of a towering dementor. He heard Dudley blundering away, hitting the alley fence, stumbling as Harry held off the dementor.

Harry could feel the white fog surrounding his mind, but his pain and anger flared, giving him strength to fight, and the dementor could not take it because it was not happiness. The dementor drew its hand up, raising the blackened dagger to strike Harry. Concentrating, Harry wandlessly summoned fire, igniting the dementor's robe. It shrieked, dropping the dagger and flailing its arms to try and extinguish itself.

There was a horrible squealing yell and Dudley's footsteps stopped. At the same moment,

Harry felt a creeping chill behind him that could mean only one thing. There was more than one.

He wheeled around. Dudley was curled up on the ground, his arms clamped over his face. A second Dementor was crouching low over him, gripping his wrists in its slimy hands, prying them slowly almost lovingly apart, lowering its hooded head towards Dudley's face as though about to kiss him.

"NO!" Harry roared, but before he could react, the first dementor closed its cold, scabbed hands around his throat. Laughter burst inside his head, shrill and high-pitched… there was no happiness left in him, and the laughter grew louder and louder, and a voice spoke inside his head: "_Bow to __death, Harry… it might even be painless… I would not know __… I __have never died__…_"

He was going to die… he was going to be worse than dead, soulless and empty… 'At least I'll see Faykan again…'

The surge of happiness that Faykan's memory brought gave Harry the strength to cry out, "_Expecto Patronum!_"

Silver light surrounded Harry and the dementor holding him, and the stag burst into existence, charging directly for the dementor, goring it with its massive antlers. The dementor flew back, shrieking into the night as Harry's Patronus chased away its fellow.

Harry ran to Dudley's side. He was still breathing, but was very cold and barely responding as Harry struggled to lift him to his feet.

He could not believe what had just happened. Dementors _here_, in Little Whinging.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Albus was reeling. Dementors had attacked Harry in Little Whinging, according to Mundungus and Arabella. He had to act quickly to repair this, Petunia Dursley would probably realize the dangers of keeping Harry in her home, and he _must_ stay there.

Pulling out parchment, he enchanted a howler and sent it off as quickly as he could to Privet Drive. Then he contacted Alastor to arrange bringing Harry to Grimmauld place. Harry was no longer safe for this summer, and they needed to keep a closer eye on him.

Albus was just thinking how best to rectify the Ministry's inevitable attempt to expel Harry from Hogwarts when a raven flew in the window, depositing a long expected letter, the reply from Albus' message to the new Lord in Germany.

Tearing the letter open, Albus drank in the message.

'_To the Light Lord of Britain,_

_I feel that it would be ill-advised for me to depart my own land so soon in my ascendance to power, Lord Dumbledore. However I have indeed heard of your strife with the Dark Lord Voldemort, and would be more than happy to come __**if**__ he strikes at you or your Ministry. Within this letter is a token which will allow you to call upon my assistance should the Dark Lord attack. I am also more than willing to keep the lines of communication open with you, and advising you on the efforts of the Light in this new war._

_Yours in the Light,_

_Zemar, Light Lord of Germany _

Albus turned the envelope over and a small stone with a white hand painted onto it fell into his open hand. Smiling at his good fortune, Albus pocketed the stone, turning his attention back to preventing Fudge from expelling Harry from _his_ school.

_[1] alkar a' i' valar i' kalina en' ron mool ten'oio putta i' du : glory to the valar the light of their servant forever combats the darkness_

_[2] __Ónen i-Estel Edain : I give hope to the __Dúnedain_

_[3] taur leuthil ar' quesse en' naur auta vee' er tehta en' poldora ar' val : wood, gem and feather of fire be as one, a sign of strength and power_


	3. Chapter 2

**Hurray, Chapter two for all of you to read! Review, as I am in a bit of a writers block, and encouragement can do many wondrous things for a story! Also, Sneak announcement, the Remastered Edition of ANP has been started! Yes, I'm starting (slowly) to go back from the very beginning of the Arc and retailoring the things that either I thought could have been better written, or things people commented on that brought useful or neat changes to my mind! None of these will be posted, however, until after the first run through is completed. Never fear... So, back to the matter at had! Sit back, grab a drink, maybe some snacks and enjoy Chapter 2! YAY!**

**Chapter Two**

**Where there's a Will**

Harry still wasn't completely sure what happened over the next few days. After driving off the Dementors from him and Dudley, Mrs. Figg arrived to escort them both back to Privet Drive. It then fell upon Harry to attempt to explain what had happened to his Aunt and Uncle, but they weren't much in a mood to hear it, convinced that Harry had used magic on Dudley.

Then over the course of about forty minutes, five different owls arrived, two from the Ministry of Magic for Harry, expelling him from Hogwarts, then amending that he would need to attend a hearing instead, one from Mr. Weasley explaining that Dumbledore was working to prevent his expulsion, one from Sirius telling him to stay at home, and finally a Howler for Aunt Petunia of all people, which came just in time to prevent Uncle Vernon from chucking Harry to the curb.

Harry then spent the next three days locked in his room, brooding over what had just happened and the utter unfairness of all the adults in his life. Not one had said anything about how well he had fought off the dementors, only talking as if he had done something terribly bad and that he needed to be scolded. Harry was worried that Aurors were going to turn up at any minute to fight him for his wand, to destroy it like their first letter had said.

The Dursleys had left that day, leaving him locked in his room, but he didn't care, as he had lost most of his energy to his brooding. It returned in a flash when he heard a commotion downstairs, but thankfully it had turned out to be a rescue party comprising of Lupin, Moody, an interesting woman named Tonks, and around nine other people who had volunteered to take him away.

Mad-Eye Moody had shown a piece of parchment to Dobby with orders to take all of Harry's things to the location written on it, except his broom. They set off immediately after, flying up into the cold night air. The journey felt like it was very short, as Harry relished the short reprise from being confined in Privet Drive, and far too soon they started to descend, landing in the middle of a small square surrounded by grimy, imposing houses.

Harry had then been shown the same piece of parchment, which read: '_The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London._' No sooner had he read it then he understood the purpose, the location was under the same charm that Faykan's house had been.

Strangely, that thought of Faykan hadn't hurt nearly as much as it Harry thought it should, but he didn't get time to ponder this, as the house in question had materialized as he finished reading, and he was ushered inside.

The people who had escorted him filed in after him, going down into what looked like a dingy kitchen, while Mrs. Weasley shooed him upstairs, saying that Ron and Hermione would explain everything. Slightly dejected at being ignored and excluded, Harry mounted the stairs and entered the door that Mrs. Weasley had indicated.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Hermione threw herself at Harry the moment he had opened the door to Ron's room in Grimmauld Place, "HARRY!" she cried. She was starting to lose hope that Dumbledore would allow him to come. "Ron," she called, "he's here, Harry's here!" Afterward she returned to crushing Harry's chest in her hug.

"Let him breathe, Hermione," said Ron, grinning as he closed the door behind Harry. She let go, still beaming at him. Hedwig sailed over to nibble Harry's ear, much to the boy's delight. Ron immediately started complaining about the abuse they had sustained when Hedwig had brought Harry's last letters, but Hermione saw that Harry didn't look either desirous to talk about it or sorry for it happening.

Harry demanded to know what had been happening so far over the summer, especially why they hadn't told him anything via letters, and both Ron and Hermione tried to explain that they had made to swear not to tell anything by Professor Dumbledore himself. It didn't seem to make Harry feel better, if his shouting was anything to tell by, and Hermione felt a pang of sympathy. If she had been left in the dark for an entire month, she would be quiet upset as well.

"Harry, we're really sorry!" she said desperately, but Harry just glared at her before pacing the room angrily.

"What is this place, anyway?" he shot at them both.

"Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix," Ron said automatically.

"Is anyone going to bother telling me what the Order of the Phoenix…?" Harry started, but Hermione cut him off. She hoped to prevent anymore shouting, as there were people sleeping a few rooms away.

"It's a secret society;" she said quickly, "Dumbledore founded it. It's the people who fought against You-Know-Who last time."

"Who's in it?" said Harry, coming to a halt and thrusting his hands into his pockets.

"Quite a few people… We've met about twenty of them," said Ron, "but we think there are more."

Harry glared at them.

"Well?"he demanded, looking from one to the other.

"Err," said Ron, stupidly. "Well what?"

"Voldemort!" said Harry furiously, causing both Ron and Hermione to wince. "What's happening? What's he up to? Where is he? What are we doing to stop him?"

"We've told you, the Order doesn't let us in on their meetings," Hermione repeated nervously. "So we don't know the details… but we've got a general idea," she added hastily, seeing the look of fury returning to Harry's face.

"Fred and George have invented Extendable Ears, see," Ron explained. "They're really useful."

"Extendable…?"

"…Ears, yeah. Only we've had to stop using them lately because Mum found out and went berserk. Fred and George had to hide them all to stop Mum confiscating them. But we got a good bit of use out of them before Mum realized what was going on. We know some members of the Order are following known Death Eaters, keeping tabs on them, you know…"

"Some of them are working on recruiting more people to the Order…" Hermione added.

"And some of them are standing guard over something," said Ron. "They're always talking about guard duty."

"Couldn't have been me, could it?" said Harry sarcastically.

"Oh, yeah," said Ron, with a look of dawning comprehension.

Harry snorted. He walked around the room again, looking anywhere but at either of them.

"So, what have you two been doing, if you're not allowed in meetings?" he demanded. "You said you'd been busy."

"We have," said Hermione quickly. "We've been decontaminating this house, it's been empty for ages and stuff's been breeding in here. We've managed to clean out the kitchen, most of the bedrooms and I think we're doing the drawing room tomo… AARGH!"

Fred and George had apparated into the room, startling Hermione, "Stop doing that!" she said to them, but she knew they wouldn't listen. They had been apparating every and any amount of distance in the house as much as possible, infuriating Mrs. Weasley, but since they were legally adults, she couldn't stop them either.

"Hello Harry," George said, beaming at him, "we thought we heard your dulcet tones."

"You don't want to bottle up your anger like that, Harry, let it all out," Fred added, also beaming, "there might be a couple of people fifty miles away who didn't hear you."

Ron complained that it would have only taken several seconds for them to just walk down, but Hermione saw that he was jealous of his brothers being seventeen and thus able to use magic freely.

"Anyway," said Fred, "Harry, you're interfering with reception." Harry raised his eyebrows and Fred quickly clarified, "Extendable Ears, we're trying to hear what's going on downstairs."

"You want to be careful," Ron said, staring at the fleshy string of the Ear, "If Mum sees one of them again…"

"It's worth the risk, that's a major meeting they're having," Fred said, waving his younger brother to silence.

The door opened and Ginny walked in, "Oh hello Harry," she said, "I thought I heard your voice." Turning to Fred and George, she added, "It's a no-go with the Extendable Ears, she's gone and put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door."

The twins' faces fell.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Severus waited at the base of the stairs for Molly Weasley to call the children down. Faykan had been here for several days, hidden behind powerful glamours that Severus was sure even Dumbledore wouldn't be able to see through. He had smuggled they boy here with the story of finding a potions prodigy and deciding to take the boy on as an apprentice.

Faykan descended the stairs first, making a beeline for Severus when he spotted him. His appearance was drastically different, despite Severus being able to see through the glamour himself, and if the boy could just act his age the disguise would hold up to all scrutiny. Severus was unsure at that point, as he had witnessed many instances where the boy would blurt out something clearly above the knowledge of a person of his age group. Faykan had let slip that it was a disguise he had used before, but Severus didn't understand, and he had tried to pry what the boy meant, but Faykan would always quickly change the subject when he did. Severus truly hoped that the boy knew what he was doing.

"Potter is here," Severus whispered in Faykan's ear as he placed a hand comfortingly on the boy's shoulder.

"I know, didn't you hear him yelling earlier?" he replied. Severus had, muffled though it was due to the charms they had on the door. Severus could see the agitation in Faykan's eyes. He was worried about Potter, and saddened that he had to hide himself from the boy while here in the stronghold of the man who tried to have him killed.

"Are you sure you want to stay here during the summer, there are plenty of other places…" Severus began but Faykan cut him off.

"I need to see him again Sev, I need to know he's alright."

Severus nodded, knowing the boy was not going to be dissuaded, and given the amount of power that Faykan possessed, Severus was not inclined to try and force him against his will.

"Then I'll be on my way, I'll see you at Hogwarts." and he turned to leave just as the other Gryffindor children joined Molly at the base of the stairs.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Harry watched as Professor Snape exited, wondering who the Potion Master was speaking to, but just then Mrs. Weasley started talking, "We're eating down in the kitchen, Harry dear, if you'll just tiptoe across the hall it's through this door here…"

CRASH!

"Tonks!" cried Mrs. Weasley in exasperation, turning to look at her.

"I'm sorry!" Tonks wailed, "It's that stupid umbrella stand, that's the second time I've tripped over…"

But the rest of her words were drowned by a horrible, ear-splitting, blood-curdling screech. A life-size portrait of an old woman was screaming at them, awakening all the other portraits, "_Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers…_"

Mrs. Weasley darted around stunning the smaller portraits, and a man with long black hair came charging out of a door facing Harry.

It was Sirius.

"Shut up you horrible old hag, shut up!" he roared, seizing the moth-eaten velvet curtains and attempting to wrench them closed.

"_Yoooou!_" the woman howled, her eyes popping at the sight of Sirius. "_Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!_"

Lupin had darted forward to help but their combined strength wasn't enough, "Will, a little help if you don't mind!" Sirius bellowed, and Harry felt someone brush past him.

A tall, thin boy with a round face and a mop of straight, mouse-brown hair walked swiftly over to face the portrait, which froze the moment the old woman saw the boy, although glaring angrily. Harry couldn't blame her, as he had a hard time taking his eyes off the boy as well. The air around him felt, off…

The boy just stood there, holding the portrait's eyes until Sirius and Lupin managed to close the curtains. "I don't know how you manage to shut her up Will, but I'm grateful that you can." Sirius said, patting the boy on the shoulder before turning to Harry.

"Hello, Harry, I see you've met my mother."

"Your…?"

"My dear old mum, yeah," Sirius said with a grimace. "We've been trying to get her down for a month but we think she put a Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of the canvas. Let's get downstairs quick, before they all wake up again."

Sirius ushered Harry and the taller boy back from where Sirius had come, and down a narrow flight of stone steps. "This was my parent's house," Sirius explained, correctly interpreting Harry's questioning look. "I'm the last Black left, so it's mine now. I offered it to Dumbledore for Headquarters, only useful thing I've been able to do." He added glumly.

"This is Will, by the way, Will Stanton; this is my godson, Harry Potter."

"Hello," the boy said, taking Harry's hand in a firm grip staring at him with blue-grey eyes. Harry felt sparks of pure magic run down his spine when their hands touched, and his breath caught in an inaudible gasp. The sensation was so odd that it distracted Harry from noticing that Will seemed to not care about who Harry was.

"H-hello…" Harry managed to force out after several seconds, then looked away, trying to prevent himself from blushing slightly. What was wrong with him?

"Professor Snape brought Will here just about a week ago. Said he found him somewhere in Wales, working in an apothecary…" Sirius was saying. Harry noticed that his godfather wasn't referring to Snape in a demeaning way anymore, and Sirius laughed when he pointed this out.

"Yeah, old Snape and I managed to patch some things up over the summer. Ever since… the Third Task… Snape's been a lot less snide and cruel for some reason. Don't suppose you know why Harry?"

Harry did know why, but he had no desire to voice it aloud, even less with some stranger right next to him, causing him to feel very odd and uncomfortable for reasons Harry could not explain.

"Ah well, Snape apparently decided to take Will here on as his apprentice in Potioneering, so Will gets to come to Hogwarts for a few years, but he couldn't stay at the castle for the summer, so Dumbledore allowed Snape to bring him here."

They reached the kitchen, which looked scarcely less gloomy than the hall above. As they entered, Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat, causing Mr. Weasley and Bill to look up from the end of the table. They had been talking in low voices previously, but jumped to their feet at the sight of Harry.

"Harry! Good to see you!" said Mr. Weasley, hurrying forward and shaking his hand vigorously as Bill cleared the papers they were looking over away.

Harry spotted Will cross to the far side of the table, seating himself near a large pile of rags and start shaking it vigorously, "Dung…Dung! Wake up Dung!" he said, and the pile of rags stirred, mumbling sleepily. "I 'gree with Sirius…"

"The meeting's over, Dung," said Sirius as they all sat down around the table, "Harry's arrived."

"Eh?" said Mundungus, peering balefully at Harry through his matted ginger hair. "Blimey, so'e'as. Yeah... you all right, 'Arry?"

"Yeah," said Harry.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stated fixing dinner while Ron, Hermione, and Ginny set the table, leaving Harry at the table with Sirius, Mundungus Fletcher, and Will. Harry had a difficult time answering the questions Sirius posed him, as he was busy watching the very quiet boy across from him. Will was pretending to pay attention to Sirius and Mundungus, while covertly sneaking glances at Harry, looking away every time Harry started to notice. It was slightly disconcerting, but Harry summed it up to the other boy's reaction to being thrust directly into the presence of the 'famed boy-who-lived.'

"Fred, George, NO, JUST CARRY THEM!" Mrs. Weasley's shrieks caught all their attentions. Harry, Sirius and Mundungus looked round and, within a split second, they had dived away from the table. Fred and George had bewitched a large cauldron of stew, an iron flagon of Butterbeer and a heavy wooden breadboard, complete with knife, to hurtle through the air towards them. Will rose and whipped out his own wand, causing all the flying objects to halt midair, and settle gently on the table.

"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!" screamed Mrs. Weasley. "THERE WAS NO NEED, I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS, JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE ALLOWED TO USE MAGIC NOW, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WHIP YOUR WANDS OUT FOR EVERY LITTLE THING!"

Harry and Sirius burst out laughing at the situation as the rose to their feet. Harry turned to see if Will was fine, and saw him calmly stowing his wand in a sleeve holster. It was a rather peculiar looking wand, bright silver with carvings down the length, ending with a rather large sapphire in the handle.

Mrs. Weasley continued to berate Fred and George for their careless use of magic, alternatively thanking Will for stopping any damage from being done, until she started listing all the elder Weasley boys and how responsible they had been when they came of age. She stopped when she mentioned Percy, catching her breath and looking slightly frightened at Mr. Weasley, who had suddenly gotten a rather wooden expression.

"Let's eat," Bill said quickly, reading the signs in the air.

"It looks wonderful, Molly," said Lupin, ladling stew onto a plate for her and handing it across the table.

Slowly the conversations started up again, and Harry felt the familiar discomfort of Will's eyes watching him. Harry glared at him, starting to get rather tired of the stranger's scrutiny. Will looked both slightly frightened and hurt afterward, and stuck to staring into his bowl of stew.

Three helpings of rhubarb crumble and custard later and the waistband on Harry's trousers were feeling uncomfortably tight. As he laid down his spoon there was a lull in the general conversation: Mr. Weasley was leaning back in his chair, looking replete and relaxed while Tonks was yawning widely, her nose now back to normal.

"Nearly time for bed, I think," said Mrs. Weasley with a yawn.

"Not just yet, Molly," said Sirius, pushing away his plate and turning to look at Harry. "You know, I'm surprised at you. I thought the first thing you'd do when you got here would be to start asking questions about Voldemort."

The atmosphere in the room changed with the rapidity Harry associated with the arrival of Dementors; where seconds before it had been sleepily relaxed, it was now alert, and even tense. A frisson had gone around the table at the mention of Voldemort's name. Lupin, who had been about to take a sip of wine, lowered his goblet slowly, looking wary.

"He did," Will said calmly from the far side of the table, playing with the last few bites on his crumble and not looking up, "At least, if the first twenty minutes of shouting was any clue of it."

Harry's face went red, had he really been shouting that loud? "I asked Ron and Hermione, but they said we're not allowed in the Order, so…"

"And they're quite right," said Mrs. Weasley. "You're too young."

She was sitting bolt upright in her chair, her fists clenched on its arms, every trace of drowsiness gone.

"Since when did someone have to be in the Order of the Phoenix to ask questions?" asked Sirius. "Harry's been trapped in that Muggle house for a month. He's got the right to know what's been happen…"

"Hang on!" interrupted George loudly.

"How come Harry gets his questions answered?" said Fred angrily.

"Probably because the business of the Order coincides directly with Harry's life, as long as… You-Know-Who… is still after him," Will said, still not looking up.

"How do _you_ know that?" George said angrily, glaring at the top of Will's head.

"Because I pay attention, not to mention that Master Snape answers my questions, within reason for the Order's privacy of course…" Will said, still more calmly.

"That's not fair, their both fifteen, not even of age, and they get to know what's going on!" Fred said, his anger growing.

"It's not our fault you haven't been told what the Order's doing," said Sirius, "that's your parent's decision. Harry and Will on the other hand…"

"It's not down to you to decide what's good for Harry!" said Mrs. Weasley sharply. The expression on her normally kind face looked dangerous.

"Well, technically, it is. Or else the title of godfather would be pointless now wouldn't it?" Will said, and Harry felt a small spur of gratitude for the boy, siding with Sirius to tell him what he had been worrying over for a month.

Mrs. Weasley glared at him, but as Will had still not looked up from his plate, he didn't see. "You haven't forgotten what Dumbledore said, I suppose?" she shot at Sirius.

"Which bit?" Sirius asked politely, but with the air of a man readying himself for a fight.

"The bit about not telling Harry more than he _needs to know,_" said Mrs. Weasley, placing a heavy emphasis on the last three words.

Ron, Hermione, Fred and George's heads swiveled from Sirius to Mrs. Weasley as though they were following a tennis rally. Ginny was kneeling amid a pile of abandoned Butterbeer corks, watching the conversation with her mouth slightly open. Lupin's eyes were fixed on Sirius. Will kept his eyes downcast, as if trying to bore through the solid wood with his eyes alone.

"I don't intend to tell him more than he _needs to know, _Molly," said Sirius. "But as he was the one who saw Voldemort come back he has more right than most to…"

"He's not a member of the Order of the Phoenix!" said Mrs. Weasley. "He's only fifteen and…"

"And he's dealt with as much as most in the Order," said Sirius, "and more than some."

"No one's denying what he's done!" said Mrs. Weasley, her voice rising, her fists trembling on the arms of her chair. "But he's still…"

"He's not a child!" said Sirius impatiently.

"He's not an adult either!" said Mrs. Weasley, the colour rising in her cheeks. "He's not James, Sirius!"

"I'm perfectly clear who he is, thanks, Molly," said Sirius coldly.

"I'm not sure you are!" said Mrs. Weasley. "Sometimes, the way you talk about him, it's as though you think you've got your best friend back!"

"What's wrong with that?" said Harry.

"What's wrong, Harry, is that you are not your father, however much you might look like him!" said Mrs. Weasley.

"Mrs. Weasley," Will said, and the calmness in his voice was replaced by what sounded like a stern rebuke, "Your coddling of Harry is not doing him any favours. You all know what's at stake, and it would be wiser to let him know something then keep him in the dark… I'd resent being left out of the loop because people wish to treat me like a glass ornament personally…"

"I think Harry ought to be allowed a say in this," Lupin added, "He's old enough to decide for himself."

"I want to know what's been going on," Harry said at once.

"Very well," said Mrs. Weasley, her voice cracking in defeat, "Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Will, I want you out of this kitchen, now."

Protests started flying around the kitchen from everyone, except Will Harry noticed. In the end, Mrs. Weasley gave in and allowed everyone except Ginny to stay, not that she went quietly. After Mrs. Weasley returned, closed the door and retook her seat, Sirius spoke.

"OK, Harry… what do you want to know?"

The answers turned out to be much less than what Harry had expected. The only news that was even worthwhile was that Voldemort was after _something_ new, like a weapon that he didn't have last time. Unfortunately Mrs. Weasley drew the line at that and frog marched them all up to bed.

"All right, Ron, Harry, Will, you three are in here," Mrs. Weasley said on the second landing, pointing them into their bedroom, "Off to bed with you all."

Will went directly in without a word, while Harry and Ron bade goodnight to Fred and George. Mrs. Weasley closed the door behind them with a sharp snap. Ron bolted the door as Harry went to pull his pajamas out of his trunk. Will was already pulling his on, and his trunk was open. Harry couldn't help but peek inside. Will had already purchased all the things he would need for fifth year, and his robes had the scarlet and gold of Gryffindor. "You've already been sorted?" Harry blurted out without thinking.

"Yeah," Will said, not turning around, "Master Snape brought me to Hogwarts to be sorted over the summer before bringing me here. I'm not 'officially' a student, but Professor Dumbledore suggested that it would be easier for everyone if I took classes like everyone else and slept in a house dormitory instead of in Master Snape's private quarters."

"Oh…" Harry said, wishing slightly that the boy would look at him, and he was slightly surprised when Will sat down on the furthest bed and turned to face him immediately when he thought it.

"Well… I wanted to thank you for standing up for me and Sirius down there, Mrs. Weasley had good intentions but sometimes…" Harry trailed off, not wanting to voice how coddling Mrs. Weasley could be at times, especially in front of Ron.

"You're lucky to have someone who cares that much about you," Will said sadly, and Harry felt a sudden pang in his chest, something between an electric shock and a bucket of ice water. He was suddenly reminded of Faykan again, twice over as that would be something he'd say and something he'd represent.

Will clearly noticed, "I'm sorry," he said, "I heard about how that boy who died two months ago… I understand if you don't want to talk about it, but I think you were both incredibly brave… and, well, that's all…"

"Thank you…" Harry said as Will laid down and rolled away to face the far wall. Harry glanced at Ron, who was watching with raised eyebrows from his own bed. Harry tried to sleep for a while, but didn't manage to drift off for what felt like hours. Occasionally Will would mumble unintelligible words in his sleep, but it was Harry's inner turmoil about the weapon that kept him awake.

"Harry?" Ron whispered, "You want to see something really freaky…"

Confused, Harry sat up slowly. Ron was creeping across the room towards Will's bed, beckoning Harry with one hand. Slowly Harry got to his feet, easing from one to the other as they tiptoed toward Will's sleeping form. Ron pointed to Will's face, and Harry nearly gasped. Will was unmistakable asleep, but his eyes were wide open, moonlight reflecting off them from the window.

"Creepy, isn't it?" Ron said as they made their ways back to their own beds.

"Kind of…" Harry replied.

Harry went back to trying to sleep, and soon found himself standing on a dark cave floor in front of several black robes men. They were herding a gang of the foulest looking creatures Harry had ever seen into their midst. They were squat, with very broad shoulders, had flat noses, sallow skin, wide mouths filled with small fangs and yellow slanted eyes. They ambled forward, looking to the largest whose eyes were locked with Harry's.

"_What are these…?_" Harry asked in a high, cruel voice.

The lead monster answered, its voice gruff and gravely as if unaccustomed to speaking in English, "_We are servants of Darkness, my Lord, sent by the Dark Powers to aid you and your cause. We are orcs… and we are yours to command._"

"_I see…_" Harry replied.

"_We also bear an item from our ancient and long-dead master, Annatar… this ring of power._" The orc leader held up a small golden ring, set with a piece of onyx, "_This ring, like its eight lost brothers, renders the wearer no longer subject to the decay of time, and grant other unimaginable powers. I lay it at your feet, my Lord, as a gift to the future Lord of the earth._"

Harry reverently pick up the tiny ring, watching the torchlight gleam in the blackness of the stone set amongst the gold, and with a yearning and a tiny sigh, slipped it onto his finger.

"_Ash tug Shakhbûrz-ûr Ulîma-tab-ishi za…_" the orcs began chanting, the harsh words rolling off their tongues.

Harry sat bolt upright, his scar burning and tingling like mad. A soft sound to his left made him turn his aching head slightly. Will was sitting on the edge of his bed, watching Harry in an almost serene manner. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," Harry lied quickly, "Just a dream…"

"Sure didn't look like 'just a dream' the way you were talking and moaning…" Will said observantly.

Harry started to feel uncomfortable, was this boy watching him while he slept? Will seemed to sense what Harry was thinking, as he shrugged slightly and mumbled, "I was coming back from the loo…"

Harry had a suspicion that Will wasn't being completely honest with him either, but simply shook his head to indicate that he didn't wish to discuss it anymore. "If you're sure…" Will said, and settled down again with his back to Harry. Harry watched the strange boy for a few minutes, wondering why he seemed so very familiar to him. _Vilya _tingled on his finger momentarily, and Harry looked down at the little blue gem imbedded in the gold. Somehow, Harry had a feeling of comfort swirl over him, and he finally was able to drift off.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

In all honesty, Severus was not surprised with how well his and Faykan's plan to smuggle the boy back into Hogwarts had gone. Albus was practically skipping down the corridors these days, and Severus guessed that the old man thought his plans for Potter were to go unchallenged with Faykan 'out of the picture.' Albus had all too quickly allowed Severus to bring 'Will' into the castle as his Potions apprentice, even smiling at the thought that Severus had finally overcame his grief of Lily. Little did the old fool know that it had been Faykan, not time, that had helped Severus come to terms with Lily's passing.

He still missed her, it was true, and Faykan had reminded him over and over that the pain would never truly leave him, but it had lessened dramatically. But Severus had found a new reason to continue living, Potter… Harry… needed someone who truly cared about him to help guide his destiny, and Albus had dashed all of Severus' belief in him ever since Barty Crouch admitted that it was the old wizard who had conspired to kill the young boy's best friend. If the great and noble Albus Dumbledore was capable of attempted murder, Severus would never truly give Albus credit for Faykan's death, then how could the same man be trusted with the life of the only person capable of destroying the Dark Lord.

Severus had been surprised however, with how deeply Albus had played right into their plans, by suggesting himself that 'Will' be sorted unofficially into a house and attend classes with the other students, as he was still underage himself, arguing that it would be less of a strain on Severus if he didn't have to house the boy as well as train him.

Severus may have seemed too eager to agree, but he felt that Albus was senile enough to have overlooked his enthusiasm. The old fool hadn't even questioned how 'Will' could have lived in Britain and not come to or at least been invited to Hogwarts much earlier.

Now Faykan was inside the Order's Headquarters as well, another idea proposed by Albus himself, knowing how inconsistently placed Severus would be over the summer holidays, and the boy would slowly work his way back into Harry's group. Severus didn't question how the boy planned to do this, he was rather confidant that Faykan would use whatever means needed, just as his Slytherin forefathers would have.

Over the month that Severus had spent off and on with the boy, the more he found how just how alike he and his father were, it was almost as if they were the same person, aside from the Gryffindorish tendencies of the boy, and several _other_ things that Severus couldn't quite place his finger on.

But the thing that truly worried him was the Dark Lord. New dark creatures had arrived to fill his ranks, calling themselves… orcs… and they had brought a powerful magical artifact, a golden ring that radiated extremely dark magic. The Dark Lord had taken it and donned the jeweled ring without a second thought, and the darkness of his power was now almost sickening to be in the presence of.

Severus knew that there would be people, Bellatrix, Lucius and Nott Sr. who would defiantly enjoy the increased power of their Lord, but behind the walls of his own mind, Severus was worried that this may tip the balance of power into Voldemort's favor.

Even Faykan had been worried when Severus had told him about it briefly, offering only the barest hint of a speculation in response.

_Will Stanton, the name, comes from one of the main characters from 'The Dark is Rising' series by Susan Cooper._

_Ash tug Shakhbûrz-ûr Ulîma-tab-ishi za : One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne_

**Reviews please! really need the love right about now!**

**F.**


	4. Chapter 3

**So, another chapter for you all... Please keep the reviews pouring in. Enjoy!**

**Chapter Three**

**The Hearing**

Hermione turned to the doorway when Harry, Ron and Will entered, joining herself, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, Fred and George in the drawing room to start combating Doxys that were infesting the curtains. "Cover your faces and take a spray," Mrs. Weasley said to the three boys the moment she saw them, pointing to three more bottles of black liquid standing on a spindle-legged table. "It's Doxycide. I've never seen an infestation this bad, whatthat house-elf's been doing for the last ten years…"

Hermione shot a small glare at Mrs. Weasley. It was obvious to her that Kreacher had lost his mind from being alone for so long, and therefore couldn't completely be held responsible for his actions.

Sirius came in at that moment, smiling as he saw Harry, carrying a bloody bag of what were, presumably, dead rats for Buckbeak. Then a loud, clanging bell sounded from downstairs, followed by the maddened screams of Mrs. Black's portrait. "I keep telling them not to ring the doorbell!" said Sirius exasperatedly, hurrying right back out of the room. They heard him thundering down the stairs as Mrs. Black's screeches echoed up through the house once more: "_Stains of dishonour, filthy __half-breeds, __blood traitors, children of filth_."

"Close the door, please, Harry," said Mrs. Weasley. Hermione watched as Harry lingered with the door slightly open to try and listen in on the conversations below. She also noticed that she wasn't the only one watching him. Will, the very odd, quiet boy that Professor Snape had left here for the summer was also eyeing Harry with a somewhat sorrowful expression on his face. Mrs. Weasley finally looked up and Harry closed the door quickly, and came over to join them all with the Doxys.

"Right, you lot," said Mrs. Weasley as Harry joined them, "you need to be careful, as Doxys bite and their teeth are poisonous. I've got a bottle of antidote here, but I'd rather nobody needed it."

She straightened up, positioned herself squarely in front of the curtains and beckoned them all forward.

"When I say the word, start spraying immediately,' she said. They'll come flying out at us, I expect, but it says on the sprays one good squirt will paralyze them. When they're immobilized, just throw them in this bucket."

She stepped carefully out of their line of fire, and raised her own spray.

"All right, squirt!"

And so it began, Hermione, Ron and Harry clustered together to one side while battling the oncoming ranks of Doxys. "So," Harry said covertly as they sprayed and tossed the casualties into the ever filling bucket, "who's this Will person?"

"Not too sure mate…" Ron said, spraying a large Doxy right in the face, "He's really quiet, keeps to himself mostly. The most I've heard him talk was the night you got here, when he defended you and Sirius to Mum. The eye thing in the middle of the night still kinda strange though."

"What eye thing?" Hermione asked, and Harry and Ron recounted that Will slept literally with his eyes open. "Well," she said at last, "I do admit that a little odd, but you shouldn't make fun Ron, there could be perfectly reasonable explanation for it." She sneaked another glance at the boy, who was spraying between Mrs. Weasley and Ginny, looking really bored. "Besides, he's really nice, and he must be really smart too or Professor Snape wouldn't have taken him as an apprentice."

"Less talking more spraying," Mrs. Weasley called over.

After the curtains stopped writhing with hordes of angry Doxys, Mrs. Weasley went down to get them lunch. She apparently ran into Mundungus Fletcher along the way, as she started shouting like Mrs. Black, who joined in the din herself moments later. George went to close the door, but Kreacher sidled in, obviously looking for artifacts to save before they were thrown out.

"... smells like a drain and a criminal to boot, but she's no better, nasty old blood traitor with her brats messing up my mistress's house, oh, my poor mistress, if she knew, if she knew the scum they've let into her house, what would she say to old Kreacher, oh, the shame of it, Mudbloods and werewolves and traitors and thieves, poor old Kreacher, what can he do..."

"Hello, Kreacher," said Fred very loudly, closing the door with a snap.

The house-elf froze in his tracks, stopped muttering, and gave a very pronounced and very unconvincing start of surprise.

"Kreacher did not see young master," he said, turning around and bowing to Fred. Still facing the carpet, he added, perfectly audibly, "Nasty little brat of a blood traitor it is."

"Sorry?" said George, "Didn't catch that last bit."

"Kreacher said nothing," said the elf, with a second bow to George, adding in a clear undertone, "and there's its twin, unnatural little beasts they are."

Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not. The elf straightened up, eyeing them all malevolently, and apparently convinced that they could not hear him as he continued to mutter.

"...and there's the Mudblood, standing there bold as brass, oh, if my mistress knew, oh, how she'd cry, and the boy with fire in his eyes, he knows too much, if my mistress knew that lords of the light would be in her house… oh, and there's a new boy, Kreacher doesn't know his name. What is he doing here? Kreacher doesn't know..."

"This is Harry, Kreacher," said Hermione tentatively. "Harry Potter."

Kreacher's pale eyes widened and he muttered faster and more furiously than ever.

"The Mudblood is talking to Kreacher as though she is my friend, if Kreacher's mistress saw him in such company, oh, what would she say…"

"Don't call her a Mudblood!" said Ron and Ginny together, very angrily.

"It doesn't matter," Hermione whispered, "he's not in his right mind, he doesn't know what he's…"

"Don't kid yourself, Hermione, he knows _exactly _what he's saying," said Fred, eyeing Kreacher with great dislike.

Kreacher was still muttering, his eyes on Harry.

"Is it true? Is it Harry Potter? Kreacher can see the scar, it must be true, that's the boy who stopped the Dark Lord, Kreacher wonders how he did it…"

"Don't we all, Kreacher," said Fred.

"What do you want, anyway?" George asked.

Kreacher's huge eyes darted towards George.

"Kreacher is cleaning," he said evasively.

"A likely story," said Sirius as he entered.

Sirius quickly sent the elf on his way, muttering the whole way, then grinned back at them. He walked over the massive family tree of the far side of the room, and everyone followed. It read: '_The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Toujours pur'_'

Will looked fascinated by the names and dates leading far back into the Middle Ages, and Hermione saw him tracing the lines backward up the tree and Sirius and Harry talked about his closer relatives.

"Sirius?" Will asked finally, when there was a tiny lull in the conversation, "You said you were the last of the Blacks, correct?"

"Yes, I'm the last living male of the Black line, fortunately." Sirius said, sounding relieved.

Will started murmuring to himself, tracing a line that led from one Narcissa Black to Lucius Malfoy, then down to Draco Malfoy. "Last of a ragged House, long bereft of Lordship…"

Mrs. Weasley came back just then with a plate of sandwiches, which they all joined in eating, leaving Sirius and Harry by the tapestry, although Hermione caught Will staring wistfully at the pair of them from time to time, until Mrs. Weasley called them over also.

They all then started emptying the glass-fronted cabinets together for the afternoon. This cleaning went especially well, until Hermione saw that Will had stopped handing her things to toss into the sack, "Will?" she asked, but the boy was focused solely on the heavy-looking gold locket in his hand… a locket that looked extremely familiar to Hermione. She shrieked, slapping the locket away immediately and sending it skittering across the floor.

"Hermione, what?" Will said, glancing around at everyone staring at him, "What happened?"

"Just another dark artifact that tried to hypnotize you…" Sirius said, scooping the locket up and chucking it in the sack without a second glance. Hermione's hearth thundered, as that particular locket was the same one she had seen in her vision of Faykan two years previous.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Severus was on orders from Dumbledore to investigate the area where Harry had been attacked by dementors. He had thought it a far better task for Faykan than the 'cleaning' of the Headquarters, so he had quickly decided to bring the boy along. They apparated to the deserted alleyway and each started at opposite ends, wands out and lit, looking for any clues to force the Ministry into letting Harry off the hook.

They were about halfway through their search before Faykan found something. Hurrying over, Severus looked at the black dagger, lit in the boy's wandlight. "What is it?" Severus asked.

"It's a Morgul blade, the little known weapon that the dementors use to create more like themselves. Their deadliest weapon, even worse than the kiss…"

Faykan removed a scrap of cloth from his trouser pocket and gently wrapped the cruel looking dagger in it, "Take this to Dumbledore, it will guarantee Harry's acquittal. And be careful. Do not touch it, or expose it to sunlight, or the metal will melt away into a poisonous fume."

Severus nodded, pocketing the cloth wrapped dagger while still wondering how the boy knew so much about these dark subjects, "How do you know these things?" he asked before realizing it.

"History," Faykan replied, "They're the same weapons the _Nazgûl_ wielded. The stab wound in my chest was made by one…"

Severus decided not to ask anything more, looking at the solemn expression of Faykan's face. Instead, he patted the boy's shoulder and together they apparated back to Grimmauld Place, before Severus continued on back to Hogwarts.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Harry tried to keep away from Will for the time he was at Grimmauld Place. The sight of the taller boy gave Harry the strangest feelings, and he was starting to get nervous whenever Will was near him. Once, when they were passing on the landing in front of their room, Harry had unconsciously reached out and touched the boy's arm, only realizing it when the jolt in his stomach made him flush and drop his own. There were also several times when Harry, not paying attention to where he was going, had run straight into Will, colliding directly into the boy and almost sending them both crashing down the old staircase.

Will, thankfully, never mentioned the incidents, or the other times he caught Harry staring at him during meals or in their bedroom. Harry made certain to keep these unnerving feelings to himself, even keeping them from Ron or Hermione, as he didn't want their opinions on this particular matter.

At least there was one good thing that came out of all the obsessing about the mystery that was Will; he had completely pushed the hearing out of his mind. That is until Mrs. Weasley turned to him during dinner on Wednesday evening and said, "I've ironed your best clothes for tomorrow morning, Harry, and I want you to wash your hair tonight, too. A good first impression can work wonders."

After asking how he was going to get there, Harry quickly finished his food, and headed up the stairs to get ready for bed. He was so consumed with dread about the trial that he almost didn't hear the sound of footsteps coming behind him as he walked to the bathroom across from his, Ron's and Will's room. The other person only caught up as Harry made to close the bathroom door, stopping it with a hand on the wood, "Harry?"

Harry turned, seeing Will's blue-grey eyes filled with unease staring back. "Can we talk for a minute?" he asked.

There was something about Will's eyes, something that was so familiar and comforting that Harry released the door and let Will inside before his brain processed that he wanted to avoid this person. Will closed the door, settling himself against the back of it, still watching Harry with concern etched into every line of his round face. "Are you alright, with the trial I mean?" Will asked softly.

"Yeah… I think so." Harry said, and the voice sounded rather distant, he was busy trying to place where he had seen Will before.

Thoughts swam through Harry's mind, and he had a difficult time focusing on Will as the boy continued to speak, "I don't think you are Harry, I think your scared, and if you want to… to talk about it, I'd be more the willing to listen."

Will walked the short distance to Harry and put his hands on Harry's shoulders. Harry's stomach did a tiny back flip, and his throat clenched, rendering him unable to speak even if he had wanted to. Will's face bored into Harry's mind, the cloudy blue eyes swimming in his mind and suddenly clearing and becoming deep and piercing. Harry gasped slightly. He couldn't see Will standing there, touching him anymore.

It was Faykan.

Without another thought, Harry launched himself into Faykan's arms, knocking the taller boy into the door with a loud slam. He had come back. Faykan had come back just for him! Harry squeezed his best friend in a crushing hug, burying his head into the taller boy's chest, sobbing unintelligibly. Faykan drew him into an embrace, hands rubbing small, comforting circles along his back. After what felt like an eternity, Harry finally managed to push words through his choked up throat, "You came back…"

Faykan was silent for several more moments before responding.

"I'm sorry," was all he said.

Harry's vision immediately went blurry, and when he finally could see again, he was alone. Confused and somewhat distressed, Harry stood quickly, showered in a daze and crossed into the bedroom. Raging emotions still swirling around him, Harry pulled his pajamas on and crawled under the covers. That was when he remembered seeing the blue eyes of his dead friend reflected in the greyer eyes of Will. Looking to the farthest bed nervously, he saw that Will was fast asleep, facing the far wall as he always did. Embarrassment flooding through him, Harry fell asleep only from pure exhaustion, hoping against hope that it had been a strange, wonderful dream.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Albus calmly strode into the underground courtroom about six minutes late. The Minister had changed the time and place of the trial, presumable to trick Harry and himself from being able to show up and defend themselves.

"…Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Percy Ignatius Weasley…"

Albus cleared his throat as he strolled in, a look of calmness replacing his irritation at the cruelty of Cornelius as to subject Harry, or any child for that matter, to this kind of ridicule. "Witness for the Defense, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore," he said. Harry spun in his chair so fast to look at him, that Albus heard the crick in his neck. Striding serenely across the room, Albus avoided looking at Harry and turned to Cornelius instead, looking at him with a note of condescension. His magic swept the room, felt all the way up to the entire Wizengamot, and they shifted unconsciously.

"Ah," said Cornelius, who looked thoroughly disconcerted. "Dumbledore… Yes... You… err… got our… err… message that the time and… err… place of the hearing had been changed, then?"

"I must have missed it," said Albus cheerfully even as he thought 'Liar...' "However, due to a lucky mistake I arrived at the Ministry three hours early, so no harm done."

"Yes… well… I suppose we'll need another chair… I… Weasley, could you…?"

"Not to worry, not to worry," said Albus pleasantly; he took out his wand, gave it a little flick, and a squashy chintz armchair appeared out of nowhere next to Harry. Albus sat down, put the tips of his long fingers together and surveyed Cornelius over them with an expression of polite interest. The Wizengamot was still muttering and fidgeting restlessly; only when Cornelius spoke again did they finally settle down.

"Yes," said Fudge again, shuffling his notes. "Well, then… So… The charges… Yes."

He extricated a piece of parchment from the pile before him, took a deep breath, and read out, "The charges against the accused are as follows: That he did knowingly, deliberately and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, having received a previous written warning from the Ministry of Magic on a similar charge, produce a Patronus Charm in a Muggle-inhabited area, in the presence of a Muggle, on the second of August at twenty-three minutes past nine, which constitutes an offence under Paragraph C of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, and also under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy."

"You are Harry James Potter, of number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey?" Fudge said, glaring at Harry over the top of his parchment.

"Yes," Harry said.

Cornelius then proceeded to badger Harry, overriding his answers so that Harry could only affirm that he did what he did, with no time to state reasons why. When he mentioned Harry using the Patronus Charm, Amelia piped up in her booming voice,

"You produced a fully-fledged Patronus?"

"Yes," said Harry, "because…"

"A corporeal Patronus?"

"A… what?" Harry asked, confused.

"Your Patronus had a clearly defined form? I mean to say, it was more than vapour or smoke?"

"Yes," said Harry, sounding both impatient and slightly desperate, "it's a stag, it's always a stag."

"Always?" boomed Amelia. "You have produced a Patronus before now?"

Harry nodded.

"Impressive," Amelia continued, staring down at Harry when he affirmed that he had cast the Charm before, "a true Patronus at his age... very impressive indeed."

Albus waited patiently for the right moment to start the actual defense, not that Harry wasn't doing a good job of it on his own, just that the deck was stacked against him, as the muggles would say.

"It's not a question of how impressive the magic was," said Cornelius in a testy voice, "in fact, the more impressive the worse it is, I would have thought, given that the boy did it in plain view of a Muggle!"

"I did it because of the Dementors!" Harry said loudly, overriding anyone before they could interrupt him again. Albus sat forward slightly, the battle was about to commence.

"Dementors?" said Amelia after a moment, her thick eyebrows rising until her monocle looked in danger of falling out. "What do you mean, boy?"

"I mean there were two Dementors down that alleyway and they went for me and my cousin!"

"Ah," said Cornelius again, smirking unpleasantly as he looked around at the Wizengamot, as though inviting them to share the joke. "Yes. Yes, I thought we'd be hearing something like this."

"Dementors in Little Whinging?" Amelia said again, in a tone of great surprise. "I don't understand…"

"Don't you, Amelia?" bantered Cornelius back, still smirking, "let me explain. He's been thinking it through and decided dementors would make a very nice little cover story, very nice indeed. Muggles can't see dementors, can they, boy? Highly convenient, highly convenient... so it's just your word and no witnesses..."

"I'm not lying!" said Harry loudly, over another outbreak of muttering from the court. "There were two of them, coming from opposite ends of the alley, everything went dark and cold and my cousin felt them and ran for it…"

Albus smiled to himself as what a good job Harry was doing of defending himself, but sadly Cornelius wouldn't be knocked off course so easily.

"Enough, enough!" said Cornelius, with a very supercilious look on his face. "I'm sorry to interrupt what I'm sure would have been a very well-rehearsed story…"

And now was the time for Albus to step in. he cleared his throat. The Wizengamot fell silent again.

"We do, in fact, have a witness and evidence to the presence of dementors in that alleyway," he said, "other than Dudley Dursley, I mean."

Cornelius' plump face seemed to slacken, as though somebody had let air out of it. He stared down at Dumbledore for a moment, and finally seemed to pull himself together, ready to attack again. "We haven't got time to listen to more tarradiddles, I'm afraid, Dumbledore. I want this dealt with quickly…"

'Of course you do, what's justice in the face of your power mongering,' Albus thought as he spoke again, "I may be wrong," he said, a pleasant smile on his face to infuriate Cornelius, "but I am sure that under the Wizengamot Charter of Rights, the accused had the right to present witnesses for his or her case? Isn't that the policy of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Madam Bones?"

Naturally Amelia agreed, and Albus was allowed to call in Arabella Figg to testify at the presence of dementors in that alleyway.

Cornelius was, as usual, highly bigoted in his questioning, trying to bully Arabella into losing her train of thought, but she was a tough old woman, and held up under the scrutiny of the Wizengamot well. Cornelius was completely unrelenting in his conception that Harry had made up the dementor attack, which was when Albus figured that it was time to unveil their largest piece of evidence. "I would like to present our final and most important piece of evidence," he said, withdrawing the cloth-wrapped dagger that Severus found in the alleyway, "This," he said, holding it up, "was recovered from the scene of the attack no more than a week afterward,"

Holding the cloth gingerly as to not drop or accidentally touch the weapon, Albus uncovered part of the hilt and blade. Many people on the Wizengamot gasped as they saw it, recognizing the dark power radiating off it in small waves. "This weapon, as we all know, is a Morgul Dagger, the deadliest and worst weapon of the dementor's arsenal, even crueler to use on a human than the Kiss. The mere presence of this weapon at the scene irrefutably proves the presence of dementors in that alleyway. The more important question is why, why dementors were there, and why were they attacking Harry and his cousin."

Dolores Umbridge spoke up next, leaning forward so her face was no longer in shadow, "I'm sure I must have misunderstood you, Professor Dumbledore, so silly of me. But it sounded for a teensy moment as though you were suggesting that the Ministry of Magic had ordered an attack on this boy!"

"Logically," Albus replied, not sparing a smile for the cruel toad-faced woman, "If you are insistent that the dementors are under the Ministry's control, and that this dagger was found where Harry was attacked, then that is what it concludes, Madam Undersecretary. Undoubtedly the Ministry will be making a full inquiry into why two dementors were so far from Azkaban and why they attacked without authorization."

Cornelius blustered some more, but Albus was barely listening any longer. "We are here to examine Harry Potter's offences under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery!"

"Of course we are," Albus admonished, "but the presence of Dementors in that alleyway is highly relevant. Clause Seven of the Decree states that magic may be used before Muggles in exceptional circumstances, and as those exceptional circumstances include situations which threaten the life of the wizard or witch him or herself, or any witches, wizards or Muggles present at the time of the…"

"We are familiar with Clause Seven, thank you very much!" snarled Cornelius, just as Albus planned. Cornelius hated being cited rules to.

"Of course you are," said Dumbledore courteously, "then we are in agreement that Harry's use of the Patronus Charm in these circumstances falls precisely into the category of exceptional circumstances the clause describes?"

"If there were Dementors, which I doubt…"

"You have heard it from an eyewitness," Albus interrupted. "You have also seen unmistakable evidence that there were dementors there. Naturally you would not want a serious miscarriage of justice…"

That sent Cornelius over the edge, blustering wildly and madly about all the things Harry had done at Hogwarts, like those were under his authority to punish, which Albus gently reminded him. Cornelius threatened to change laws, and Albus pointed out that they had already, given that they felt the need to prosecute a fifteen year old as if he was a hardened criminal.

Finally, Albus urged the Wizengamot to make their verdict, and, naturally, it came that more members felt that Harry should be cleared.

"Excellent," said Albus as they declared Harry cleared, springing to his feet, pulling out his wand and causing the chintz armchairs to vanish. "Well, I must be getting along. Good day to you all."

And without looking once at Harry, he swept from the dungeon, glad to be out of the room in which so many horrid memories lay.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Sirius watched happily as Mr. Weasley lead Harry into the kitchen of Headquarters, and declared the good news of his acquittal. Next to him, Will smiled widely at the news, while the others let out their cheers of excitement.

"I knew it!" yelled Ron, punching the air. "You always get away with stuff!"

"They were bound to clear you," said Hermione.

Across the room, Fred, George and Ginny were doing a kind of war dance to a chant of: "He got off, he got off, he got off…"

Sirius laughed at their antics, but quieted as Arthur relayed the news of Lucius meeting with Fudge again, and he agreed that Dumbledore ought to know. When the din of the twins and Ginny chants got to the point where Sirius could barely hear himself, Molly yelled for them to quiet down and started piling out lunch, commenting that Harry hadn't eaten much that morning.

Harry, Ron and Hermione sat across from Will, and Sirius watched with amusement as Ron piled mounds of mashed potatoes on everyone's plates, chatting animatedly to the others. Even Will was adding to the conversation, which surprised Sirius, because the quiet boy never showed much interest in anything until Harry arrived. And now shortly they'd all be leaving, and with the other members busy with assignments for the Order, Sirius would probably be left alone for long periods of time with Kreacher. Sirius' amusement dwindled as the days ticked away until September the first.

**Review please!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Please Review!**

**Chapter Four**

**Ministry at Hogwarts**

Harry was eager to return to Hogwarts, though careful not to say so around Sirius. Everyone had clearly noticed how moody Sirius had been as the school year approached, and Harry didn't want to add to Sirius' growing depression. The other reason, aside from getting back into the magical world and probably far more important to Harry right now, was that at Hogwarts he could finally put some distance between himself and Will. The other boy had not mentioned anything related to his and Harry's conversation in the bathroom, but the way he kept looking at Harry and smiling knowingly left no doubt in Harry's mind that it had been no dream.

On the very last day of the holidays Harry was sweeping up Hedwig's owl droppings from the top of the wardrobe when Ron entered their bedroom carrying a trio of envelopes.

"Booklists have arrived," he said, throwing one of the envelopes up to Harry, who was standing on a chair, and setting a second onto Will's bed. "About time, I thought they'd forgotten, they usually come much earlier than this..."

Harry swept the last of the droppings into a rubbish bag and threw the bag over Ron's head into the wastepaper basket in the corner, which swallowed it and belched loudly. He then opened his letter. It contained two pieces of parchment: one the usual reminder that term started on the first of September; the other telling him which books he would need for the coming year.

"Only two new ones," he said, reading the list, '_The_ _Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5,_'by Miranda Goshawk, and '_Defensive Magical Theory,_'by Wilbert Slinkhard."

_Crack._

Fred and George Apparated right beside Harry. He was so used to them doing this by now that he didn't even fall off his chair.

"We were just wondering who set the Slinkhard book," said Fred conversationally.

"Because it means Dumbledore's found a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," said George.

"And about time too," said Fred.

"What d'you mean?" Harry asked, jumping down beside them. Will walked in at that moment, and Harry saw him cross to the letter on his bed, tearing it open as he joined the four of them.

"Well, we overheard Mum and Dad talking on the Extendable Ears a few weeks back," Fred told Harry, "and from what they were saying, Dumbledore was having real trouble finding anyone to do the job this year.

"Not surprising, is it, when you look at what's happened to the last four?" said

George.

"One sacked, two dead and one locked in a trunk for nine months," said Harry, counting them off on his fingers. "Yeah, I see what you mean."

"What's up with you, Ron?" asked Fred.

Ron did not answer. Harry looked round. Ron was standing very still with his mouth slightly open, gaping at his letter from Hogwarts.

"What's the matter?" said Fred impatiently, moving around Ron to look over his shoulder at the parchment.

Fred's mouth fell open, too.

"Prefect?" he said, staring incredulously at the letter. "_Prefect?_"

George leapt forwards, seized the envelope in Ron's other hand and turned it upside-down. Harry saw something scarlet and gold fall into George's palm.

"No way," said George in a hushed voice.

"There's been a mistake," said Fred, snatching the letter out of Ron's grasp and holding it up to the light as though checking for a watermark. "No one in their right mind would make Ron a prefect."

The twins' heads turned in unison and both of them stared at Harry.

"We thought you were a cert!" said Fred, in a tone that suggested Harry had tricked them in some way.

"We thought Dumbledore was _bound _to pick you!" said George indignantly.

"Winning the Triwizard and everything!" said Fred.

"Its obvious why he didn't," Will said musingly, still reading his book list, "The Ministry is trying to crack down on Dumbledore's control of Hogwarts, and if they see him giving 'special treatment' to Harry, the other person that their actively trying to ridicule, then the Ministry would squeeze harder to restrict what he can or cannot do…"

"Makes sense… I guess" Harry said absently.

The twins started to tease Ron about becoming just like Percy, thrusting the badge back to him like a diseased animal. They were all interrupted, however, when Hermione burst into the room, a similar badge in her hand.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Hermione smiled when she saw the banner Mrs. Weasley had hung in the kitchen to celebrate: '_Congratulations, Ron and Hermione, New Prefects!_' Mrs. Weasley was in the best mood they had seen her in the entire summer holiday. "I thought we'd have a little party, not a sit-down dinner," she told them all as Hermione, Harry, Ron, Fred, George, Ginny, and Will entered the room.

Sirius, Lupin, Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt were already in the kitchen, and a few minutes into the festivities Mad-Eye showed up. Hermione, who was the closest to Mrs. Weasley aside from Will, was able to hear her talking to Mad-Eye as he shrugged out of his traveling cloak, "Oh, Alastor, I am glad you're here. We've wanted to ask you for ages… could you have a look in the writing desk in the drawing room and tell us what's inside it? We haven't wanted to open it just in case it's something really nasty."

"No problem Molly…" he grunted in return, and his electric blue eye swiveled upwards and stared fixedly through the ceiling of the kitchen. The pupil contracted and Mad-Eye nodded, "yeah, it's a Boggart… want me to get rid of it Molly?"

"No, no, I'll do it myself later," beamed Mrs. Weasley, "you have your drink. We're having a little bit of a celebration, actually..." She gestured at the scarlet banner. "Fourth prefect in the family!" she said fondly, ruffling Ron's hair.

"Prefect, eh?" growled Moody, his normal eye on Ron and his magical eye swiveling around to gaze into the side of his head to stare in Harry's direction. But Moody's conversation with Ron paled in the importance to what Will was discussing with Mrs. Weasley. He was trying to press what looked like a small bag of gold into her hands, but Mrs. Weasley was refusing, "No dear, I couldn't take it."

"Mrs. Weasley, if you don't accept it, not only will I be offended, but I'm going to drop the bag right here and leave it for Mundungus to take later… and I'm also taking care of the Boggart for you, and I won't take no for an answer." And with that Will dropped the bag right onto the table with a soft clatter of gold, and left the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley looked mournfully at the closed kitchen door, and swept the small bag into her pocket, frowning as she did so.

"Well, I think a toast is in order," said Mr. Weasley, when everyone had a drink. He raised his goblet, "to Ron and Hermione, the new Gryffindor prefects!" Ron and Hermione beamed as everyone drank to them, and then applauded.

Everyone started milling about and chatting happily, and no one noticed as Hermione slipped out to see where Will went. She tiptoed up the stairs past the stuffed house elf heads, shuddering at the grisly sight. Reaching the first floor landing, Hermione felt a wave of cold fear run through her, before being washed away. Then she heard the sounds of sobs from the drawing room.

"Hello?" Hermione said, pushing the door open.

Two people were standing in the middle of the room, wands pointed at each other. The two boys were also unmistakable.

Will and Harry.

But… Harry was downstairs… so it couldn't be.

Harry spoke, completely ignoring Hermione and focusing solely on Will, "_I hate you. You lied to me. You left me all alone, you are the reason for all my pain, and I will never, EVER, forgive you for this. I hate you, I reject you, and I wish you had stayed dead!_" Harry's voice was full of anger, and Will's wand was shaking madly in his grip.

"No… that's not true; it's not my fault…" he was moaning, whimpering in terror and pain. "_Riddikulus!_"

Nothing happened. The false Harry smiled as Will blanched, his wand shaking wildly. Hermione jumped in front of him, shoving Will behind her and facing the boggart.

_CRACK!_

Red eyes gleaming, Faykan stepped forward where the false Harry was before, brandishing his wand and grinning wickedly. "_Dear sweet Hermione, all alone and friendless, my power shall grow to consume the world of men, and Darkness will reign upon the age of the orc!_"

"Not this time." Hermione said resolutely, "_Riddikulus!_" Faykan exploded into sparks and mist.

Hermione turned to look at Will, but the boy had run from the room, and she heard him thundering up the stairs and slamming the boys' bedroom door.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Draco followed his parents through the crowded station in silence. The summer had been probably one of Draco's worst, consisting of mainly being confined to the manor and listening to Lucius' endless hints at the Dark Lord's return, how it would mean 'Great things in the future of wizard kind,' and that they would, 'finally put those upstart Mudbloods in their place.' On the whole, it was starting to scare Draco how insanely loyal his father seemed to be to Voldemort, there appeared to be very little he would not give up for his place at the left hand of the Dark Lord, second only to Aunt Bella, who was still thankfully locked up in Azkaban. Draco had no true desire to meet her, if even the tamest of his mother's stories of her were true.

"Oh, look," Lucius drawled to Narcissa, "if it isn't Potter and his little entourage…"

Sure enough, Draco saw Harry and his friends, along with ex Aurors making their way toward the train. Next to Harry was a big black dog that Draco recognized as Sirius. What he wasn't expecting was for Lucius to recognize it as well, "Well, well, Sirius Black, trotting along like the mutt he is, in broad daylight…"

After being ushered onto the train by a hug from his mother, and a pointed glare from Lucius that screamed 'behave this year,' Draco immediately looked for where Harry had gone.

Draco found him sitting in a compartment near the very end of the train, with Ginny, Longbottom, Miss Lovegood, and another boy of about fifteen that Draco did not recognize. "Hello Draco," Harry said, rather miserably. Draco felt a pang of sympathy for his friend. The Daily Prophet had been having a go at both him and Dumbledore every other day for the entire summer, and Draco could only imagine what that could have done to Harry emotionally, adding Faykan's death to it.

Draco decided that it would be wise to keep the subject away from these topics, and turned to the unknown boy in the compartment, holding his hand out in greeting, "Hello, who are you? I'm Draco Malfoy."

The boy stood, taking Draco's hand in a rather firm grip and grinning slightly, "Hello, I'm Will, Will Stanton."

Luna spoke up, "Rather nice of you to come back after last year, isn't it…"

Everyone stared at her for a minute, and Will shifted rather nervously, "Um… yes, it is, isn't it…" he said, before turning back to Draco. "I met Harry, the Weasleys and Hermione over the summer, and Master Snape is taking me on as his Potion apprentice, so Dumbledore suggested that I just take classes like the rest of the students, to free up time for simplicities sake."

Draco wondered what 'over the summer' might have meant, as he had received little to no information as to what happened to them all over the holiday, aside form Harry's attack and hearing, and he presumed that they had all been in the same place at the least for the summer.

"Ah, so… you've been sorted already into Gryffindor," Draco said, pointing at the red and gold symbol on Will's robes, and he nodded. They sat and Draco started guiding the topics of the conversations, making sure that they did not drift to anything that might upset Harry.

Nearly an hour later, Hermione and Ron showed up, for which Draco was very grateful, as he was running low of means to subtly influence the flow of topics. He noticed immediately that Ron was wearing a Prefect's badge, and commented on thus, which led to them all talking about the other school Prefects, which unfortunately included Theodore Nott. Draco had no doubts that the influence of the Ministry caused his selection, and that Nott would without a doubt use the power to further bully and demean the other students.

Sadly, as though summoned by the usage of his name, Nott came bursting into their compartment, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. "What?" Harry demanded before Nott could speak.

"Manners Potter or I'll give you a detention," Nott drawled, eyeing them all in turn, his eyes lingered momentarily longer on Will, but Nott said nothing for the moment. "You better watch yourself, Potter. The Ministry is likely to lock you up any day now," he added with a smirk. Will stood up, and the three other Slytherins eyed him suspiciously. "I think it would be best if you three left, now." Will said calmly, and Nott laughed, "You think so do you? And who the hell do you think you are to tell me to leave?"

Will simply leaned in close to Nott and whispered something into his ear. Draco didn't hear what it was, but it made the snide boy blanch instantly and back away from Will, who grinned wickedly at him. Nott and his cronies left without another word, and everyone (except Luna) badgered Will for what he had said to make Nott shut up and leave. Will merely shook his head, refusing to spill the secret.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Harry tried to engage in the conversations around him during the train ride, but he kept getting distracted whenever he glanced around. Most everyone was staring at him, almost anticipating him to sudden start yelling. Luna was buried behind her _Quibbler_, and Will was absently watching the scenery fly by out of the window, occasionally catching Harry's eye and giving him a small smile. Cho Chang and her boyfriend Cedric Diggory walked past their compartment, and they waved at Harry through the glass, which brightened Harry's mood slightly. At least some people still trusted that he wasn't completely out of his mind.

At last, the train began to slow down and they heard the usual racket up and down it as everybody scrambled to get their luggage and pets assembled, ready to get off. As Ron and Hermione were supposed to supervise all this, they disappeared from the carriage again, leaving Harry and the others to look after Crookshanks and Pigwidgeon. "Here," Will said, taking Pigwidgeon's cage while Draco took custody of Crookshanks, freeing Harry to manage Hedwig's cage.

Harry shuffled out of the compartment after Will, Luna, and Neville. Draco and Ginny followed behind him as they joined the crowds in the corridor. Stepping onto the platform, Harry instinctively looked around, listening for Hagrid's booming voice. Instead, he heard the brisker, female voice of Professor Grubbly-Plank calling for the first years instead. "Where's Hagrid?" he said out loud, and Ginny shrugged at him.

Still thinking about Hagrid, Harry moved automatically with Ginny, Draco, and Will toward the horseless carriages. They stood waiting for the two Gryffindor Prefects, and Harry glanced over the sea of students to catch a glimpse of his two best friends, and that's when he saw that the carriages weren't horseless anymore.

There were creatures standing between the carriage shafts. If he had had to give them a name, he supposed he would have called them horses, though there was something reptilian about them, too. They were completely fleshless, their black coats clinging to their skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Their heads were dragonish, and their pupil-less eyes white and staring. Wings sprouted from each wither - vast, black leathery wings that looked as though they ought to belong to giant bats. Standing still and quiet in the gathering gloom, the creatures looked eerie and sinister. Harry could not understand why the coaches were being pulled by these horrible horses when they were quite capable of moving along by themselves.

"What are they," Harry said absently, only realizing that he spoke aloud when Will answered, "Thestrals."

"What are…?" Harry began, but he was interrupted by Ron and Hermione pushing through the crowd to them, and Harry immediately changed subjects to asking them about Hagrid. They had as little knowledge as he did however, so all six of them piled into one carriage and set off for the castle.

The Entrance Hall was ablaze with torches and echoing with footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right, leading to the Great Hall and the start-of-term feast. Draco looked tentatively over at the Slytherin table before grudgingly walking toward it. Harry sat at the Gryffindor table with Ron and Hermione, across from Will, as Ginny was called toward some fellow fourth years, and together they waited for the feast to start. Harry couldn't help but notice the vast amount of muttering and sideways glances that people were casting at him; he gritted his teeth and tried to act as though he neither noticed nor cared.

Hagrid was absent from the head table as well. Glancing down the row of teachers, Harry saw Professor Snape looking in his direction. Their eyes met, and the Potions Master nodded once in greeting. Further along, Dumbledore was smiling warmly at the students amassing at the house tables. Harry was suddenly reminded of the last lines of Faykan's will to him, '_Do not trust Albus Dumbledore…_' Harry frowned, wondering what his friend could have meant by it. The person in the final seat caught Harry's attention as well. She looked, Harry thought, like somebody's maiden aunt: squat, with short, curly, mouse-brown hair in which she had placed a horrible pink Alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan she wore over her robes. Then she turned her face slightly to take a sip from her goblet and he saw, with a shock of recognition, a pallid, toad-like face and a pair of prominent, pouchy eyes.

It was Dolores Umbridge, Harry recognized her from his hearing during the summer, and the Malfoy Yule party two years previously. He informed the three other Gryffindors around him of this, and they spent most of the time up to the sorting discussing reasons for her presence.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Severus watched with a nearly bored expression as the final eleven year olds were sorted into their houses, and Dumbledore stood to make his false speech before the serving of the feast. "To our newcomers," he said in a ringing voice, his arms stretched wide and a beaming smile on his lips as he looked in 'Wills' direction, "welcome! To our old hands, welcome back! There is a time for speech-making, but this is not it. Tuck in!"

Severus grinned to himself as the plates filled with food from the kitchens. For all Dumbledore's subtly he lacked a bit in wisdom, not to notice how odd it was for a boy to be effectively transferred into Hogwarts on the eve of another's death, sorted into the same house, and befriending the same people that the previous boy had just left. It was rather amusing; the little game Faykan was leading Dumbledore along in, and thereby dividing his attention with thoughts of a new Lord in Germany to assist him against the Dark Lord. The boy had shown some of the correspondence to Severus, and the old fool was definitely overeager to enlist this 'Lord Zemar' into his confidence. Thankfully they had taught each other different skills in Occlumency, and Severus had explicitly shown Faykan how to project false images with his mind, thus allowing them to perfect his persona of Will Stanton.

Glancing momentarily at the Gryffindor table, Severus spotted they boy listening quietly to Harry, Granger and Weasley. Faykan had told him, and Severus agreed completely, that these three must be the first, if not the only people, to learn of the boy's continued survival from the battle in the graveyard after the Third Task. Severus had noticed however, that Faykan had not decided on when the best time for this to happen would be.

Finally, the gold plates cleared of the last traces of food, Dumbledore stood again, "Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," he began. Severus zoned out for the normal reminders about magic in the corridors, and the forest, returning to the world to listen as Dumbledore mentioned the new staff members.

"We are pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons, and we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Dumbledore was about to continue on, but the pink clad Umbridge made the oddest fake coughing noise Severus had ever heard, still effectively silencing the Headmaster as she rose to her feet and walked to the podium in front of the staff table.

"Thank you, Headmaster," she simpered, "for those kind words of welcome." She continued on, emphasizing the Ministry's view of the education of young witches and wizards, which Severus translated as, 'preventing Fudge from losing his perilous powerbase in the light of the Dark Lord's return, not that we'll admit it…'

Her final words were probably the most informative as to her agenda, to prevent students from learning anything that the Ministry would deem 'dangerous.' Adding to the fact that she was in the post of Defense Professor, Severus surmised that this meant that the students would once again be subjected to inferior training in that subject, if Umbridge allowed them to learn anything at all.

She finally sat down. Dumbledore clapped, followed by several of the other professors, and finally the students, although most of them clearly hadn't understood a word of her speech. Dumbledore stood again, "Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge… that was most illuminating… Now as I was going to say, some of you may have noticed another new face at the Gryffindor table, aside from our first years, as you feasted on our delicious meal. Will, if you'd be so kind as to stand and allow us to see you clearly…"

Faykan stood, putting on a small show of false nerves, but Severus could see the underlying smugness of his demeanor.

"Will Stanton will be joining our school as a temporary student, and as you all have probably guessed he had been sorted into Gryffindor already. Now, the real reason for him joining us this year is that he has been selected by our own Potions Master, Professor Snape," Dumbledore gestured at Severus, who refused to react, "to learn his trade as a Potions apprentice. He will attend lessons and take his O. with the rest of the fifth years, while also working on learning more advanced potioneering skills."

There was a slightly larger smattering of applause for 'Will' and the boy bowed slightly before retaking his seat. Severus caught several Slytherin's eyes as they stared at him confusedly. No doubt they were wondering why he, the Head of Slytherin, would consent to take on an apprentice that was sorted into their opposing house. Well, they could wonder all they wanted; none would work up the courage to challenge him head on about it.

Faykan caught Severus' eye and winked as the students were dismissed to go to bed, and he gave the boy a brisk nod in return before Faykan turned to follow Harry and the rest of the Gryffindors out to the entrance hall.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

Harry would have walked with Ron and Hermione, but the whispering all around him was starting to really get on his nerves, so he broke off and made his way up to Gryffindor Tower on his own. He only made it to the fourth floor before realizing that even if he reached the portrait of the fat lady, he did not know the new password for this term. Sighing dejectedly, he started to go back to find the group of first years led by his friends when saw Will round a corner and run toward him, "Hey Harry," he said, catching his breath as he caught up to him, "I saw you take off and figured you might not have the password, so I got it from Hermione and followed you. Can we walk to the common room together?"

Harry shrugged, and turned to continue up through the secret passages. He wondered for a moment how the other boy had followed him through all the secret passages he had memorized from the Marauder's Map, but the thought was brushed aside when Will spoke again, "I wanted to apologize for what happened the night before your trial Harry, I'm not exactly sure who you thought you were seeing, but I'm sure it wasn't your intention to do what you did if you thought I wasn't that person…

Harry felt himself turn bright red, but Will kept on talking, "It's alright Harry, I'm not upset, truth be told I didn't really realize what had happened until the next day, all I remember was you launching into me and then it's a giant blur until I woke up the next day. At first I thought it was just a very awkward dream, but then they way you were trying to avoid me the rest of the summer kinda proved to me that something had happened, something that you were highly embarrassed about." Harry glanced sideways and saw that Will's cheeks were tinted with red as well.

"I'm sure you really don't want to talk about it, but I want you to know that I do admire you, not many people have the strength to endure the things you've gone through…"

He broke off as they arrived at the secret door to the Gryffindor common room and Will gave the password, "Mimbulus mimbletonia."

The common room was quite deserted, as most people were still climbing the stairs and weaving through the masses of other students. Harry and Will walked straight up to the dormitory, now clearly labeled '_Fifth Years._' With a pang, Harry realized that Will was going to be sleeping in Faykan's old bed now, and the sudden resurgence of his loss returned. Will must have noticed, as he placed his hand on Harry should and gave a reassuring squeeze, "if you ever feel the need to talk about it, I'm here…" he said before crossing to his trunk at the foot on his bed.

Just then Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas entered the dormitory, chatting together but stopping abruptly as they saw Harry. Harry wondered whether they had been talking about him, then whether he was being paranoid.

"Hi," he said, moving to his own trunk and searching for a pair of pajamas. Will looked over as well, and Dean nodded once in his direction before speaking to Harry, "Hey, Harry. Good holiday?"

"Not bad," muttered Harry, as a true account of his holiday would have taken most of the night to relate and he could not face it. "You?"

"Yeah, it was ok," chuckled Dean. "Better than Seamus', anyway, he was just telling me."

"Why? What happened, Seamus?" Harry asked. Seamus didn't answer at first, instead crossing to his own trunk and making a small show of rummaging through it for something. Then he said, with his back still turned to Harry, "Me mum didn't want me to come back."

"What?" said Harry, pausing in the act of pulling off his robes.

"She didn't want me to come back to Hogwarts."

Seamus stood, pulling his own pajamas out of the trunk along the way.

"But why?" Harry said, a slightly hint of dread edging into his voice. He had a good guess at the reason.

Seamus didn't answer until he finished buttoning his pajamas. "Well," he said in a measured voice, "I suppose… because of you."

"So she believes the Daily Prophet then…" Harry said quickly, "she thinks I'm a liar and Dumbledore's an old fool?"

Seamus looked up at him, "Yeah, something like that."

Harry said nothing more. He turned and angrily threw his wand down on the bedside table and climbed into bed. He was so sick of being the person stared at and talked about all the time. Stupid fools, he thought savagely as he went to pull the curtains closed.

Before he could though, Seamus spoke again, "Look… what did happen that night when… you know, when… with Faykan and all?"

Harry glared at him, "What are you asking me for," he retorted. "Just read the Prophet like your stupid mother. That'll tell you all you need to know."

"Don't you have a go at my mother," Seamus snapped.

"I'll have a go at anyone who calls me a liar!" Harry shouted.

"What's going on?"

Ron appeared in the doorway, his eyes traveling from Harry, kneeling on his bed with his wand pointing a Seamus, to Seamus, who was standing there with his fists raised. Seamus rounded on Ron, "Do you believe all the rubbish he's coming out with about You-Know-Who?"

"Yeah, "Ron said, suddenly turning cold, "I do!"

"Then you're mad, too," said Seamus in disgust.

"Yeah? Well, unfortunately for you, pal, I'm also a prefect!" said Ron, jabbing himself in the chest with a finger. "So unless you want detention, watch your mouth!"

Ron and Seamus glared at each other for several seconds, and finally Seamus jumped into his bed and wrenched the curtains shut. "Right," Ron said angrily, "Anyone else have a problem with Harry?"

The rest of the boys shook their heads before returning to their own business.

Harry lay back on his pillows while Ron bustled around the next bed, putting his things away. He felt shaken by the argument with Seamus, whom he had always liked very much. How many more people were going to suggest that he was lying, or unhinged?

Had Dumbledore suffered like this all summer, as first the Wizengamot, then the International Confederation of Wizards had thrown him from their ranks? Was it anger at Harry, perhaps, that had stopped Dumbledore getting in touch with him for months? The two of them were in this together, after all; Dumbledore had believed Harry, announced his version of events to the whole school and then to the wider wizarding community. Faykan's words rang in his head again, '_Do not trust Albus Dumbledore._' Perhaps… perhaps Dumbledore was simply using Harry, but for what purpose? And why? These questions plagued Harry as he tried to sleep, and his scar began to prickle uncomfortably.

_~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~_

In the deep blackness of his underground fortress, Lord Voldemort was plotting and planning. Aside from the prophecy, his mind and his servants were focused on other assignments. One such was the liberating of Azkaban, and the returning of the dementors into the fold. Voldemort paced, his robes billowing on an invisible wind as he moved, his great mind pondering the best approach to the highly guarded prison.

His newest servants, legions of the dark creatures known as orcs, would be essential to his cause. They knew no good feelings, and therefore were immune to the dementors should they choose to attack his forces, until he himself set foot on the island and they flocked to his side. But he needed other ways of breaking the Auror guards at the front gates.

"_Rally the Olog-hia out of their long exile… Summon the Mountain trolls, the Wargs, the Werewolves and the Vampires to your cause. Command them in the name of the Lord of Darkness, and they will come. You will have an army greater than any that walks the earth, Lord Voldemort…_"

Smiling, the Dark Lord absently stroked the Onyx ring upon his hand, the ring that granted him such raw power and insight. Flaring his magic, he sent out a summons, calling all evil to his service, in the name of Darkness. They would come; such creatures would not be able to resist the magnitude of his power. Perhaps even the dementors would answer him, and the plan to destroy Azkaban would not be needed.

The laughs of the Dark Lord echoed through his fortress, sending shivers down the spines of his Death Eaters.


End file.
